25269	----	None 
20763	----	THE "HOW-TO-DO-IT" BOOKS CARPENTRY FOR BOYS [Illustration: _Fig. 1. A Typical Work Bench._] THE "HOW-TO-DO-IT" BOOKS CARPENTRY FOR BOYS in simple language, including chapters on drawing, laying out work, designing and architecture WITH 250 ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. S. ZERBE, M.E. AUTHOR OF ELECTRICITY FOR BOYS PRACTICAL MECHANICS FOR BOYS THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY NEW YORK COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Transcriber's Notes: Italics are marked by underscore(_), Bold text is| |marked by $, Small caps have been uppercased. | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ CONTENTS INTRODUCTORY I. TOOLS AND THEIR USES Page 5 Knowledge of Tools. A Full Kit of Tools. The Hatchet. The Claw Hammer. About Saws--Cross-cut, Rip Saw, Back Saw. Planes--Jack Plane, Smoothing Plane, Pore Plane. Gages. Chisels--Firmer Chisel. Trusses. Saw Clamps. The Grindstone. Oilstone. Miter Box. The Work Bench. II. HOW TO GRIND AND SHARPEN TOOLS Page 16 Care of Tools---First Requisites. Saws--How to Set. Saw-set Errors. Saw Setting Block. Filing. The Angle of Filing. Filing Pitch. Saw Clamps. Filing Suggestions. The File. Using the File. The Grindstone. In the Use of Grindstones. Correct Way of Holding Tool in Grinding. Care of Stone. Incorrect Way to Hold Tool. Way to Revolve or Turn Grindstone. The Plane. The Gage. Chisels. General Observations. III. HOW TO HOLD AND HANDLE TOOLS Page 29 On the Holding of Tools. The Saw. How to Start a Saw. Sawing on a Line. The First Stroke. The Starting Cut for Cross-cutting. Forcing a Saw. The Stroke. The Chinese Saw. Things to Avoid. The Plane. Angle for Holding Planes. Errors to be Avoided. The Gage. Holding the Gage. The Draw-knife. IV. HOW TO DESIGN ARTICLES Page 39 Fundamentals of Designing. The Commercial Instinct. First Requirements of Designing. Conventional Styles. The Mission Style. Cabinets. Harmony of Parts. Harmony of Wood. V. HOW WORK IS LAID OUT Page 43 Concrete Examples of Work. Dimensions. Laying Out a Table. The Top. The Mortises. The Facing Boards. The Tenons. Tools Used. Chamfered Tenons. The Frame. The Drawer Support. The Table Frame. The Top. The Drawer. How Any Structure is Built Up. Observations About Making a Box. Points. Beveling and Mitering. Proper Terms. Picture Frames. Dovetail Points. Box Points. First Steps in Dovetailing. Cutting Out the Spaces. Tools Used in Laying Out Mortises and Tenons. VI. THE USES OF THE COMPASS AND THE SQUARE Page 59 The Compass. Determining Angles. Definition of Degrees. Degrees Without a Compass. How Degrees are Calculated by the Dividers. VII. HOW THE DIFFERENT STRUCTURAL PARTS ARE DESIGNATED Page 65 Importance of Proper Designation. How to Explain Mechanical Forms. Defining Segment and Sector. Arcade, Arch, Buttress, Flying Buttress, Chamfer, Cotter, Crenelated, Crosses, Curb Roof, Cupola, Crown Post, Corbels, Dormer, Dowel, Drip, Detent, Extrados, Engrailed, Facet, Fret, Fretwork, Frontal, Frustrums, Fylfot, Gambrel Roof, Gargoyle, Gudgeon, Guilloche. Half Timbered, Hammer Beam, Header, Hip Roof, Hood Molding, Inclave, Interlacing Arch, Inverted, Inverted Arch, Key Stone, King Post, Label, Louver, Lintel, Lug, M-Roof, Mansard Roof, Newel, Parquetry, Peen, Pendant, Pendastyle, Pedestal, Plinth, Portico, Plate, Queen Post, Quirk Molding, Re-entering Angle, Rafter, Scarfing, Scotia Molding, Sill, Skewback, Spandrel, Strut, Stud, Stile, Tie Beam, Timber, Trammel, Turret, Transom, Valley Roof. VIII. DRAWING AND ITS UTILITY Page 73 Fundamentals in Drawing. Representing Objects. Forming Lines and Shadows. Analysis of Lines and Shadings. How to Show Plain Surfaces. Concave Surfaces. Convex Surfaces. Shadows from a Beam. Flat Effects. The Direction of Light. Raised Surfaces. Depressed Surfaces. Full Shading. Illustrating Cube Shading. Shading Effect. Heavy Lines. Perspectives. True Perspective of a Cube. Isometric Cube. Flattened Perspective. Technical Designations. Sector and Segment. Terms of Angles. Circles and Curves. Irregular Curves. Ellipses and Ovals. Focal Points. Produced Line. Spirals, Perpendicular and Vertical. Signs to Indicate Measurement. Definitions. Abscissa. Angle. Apothegm. Apsides or Apsis. Chord. Cycloid. Conoid. Conic Section. Ellipsoid. Epicycloid. Evolute. Flying Buttress. Focus. Gnomes. Hexagon. Hyperbola. Hypothenuse. Incidental. Isosceles. Triangle. Parabola. Parallelogram. Pelecoid. Polygons. Pyramid. Rhomb. Sector. Segment. Sinusoid. Tangent. Tetrahedron. Vertex. IX. MOLDINGS, WITH PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS IN EMBELLISHING WORK Page 93 Moldings. The Basis of Moldings. The Simplest Moldings. The Astragal. The Cavetto. The Ovolo. The Torus. The Apothegm. The Cymatium. The Ogee. Ogee Recta. Ogee Reversa. The Reedy. The Casement. The Roman-Doric Column. Lesson from the Doric Column. Applying Molding. Base. Embellishments. Straight-faced Molding. Plain Molding. Base. Diversified Uses. Shadows Cast by Moldings. X. AN ANALYSIS OF TENONING, MORTISING, RABBETING AND BEADING Page 104 Where Mortises Should be Used. Depth of Mortises. Rule for Mortises. True Mortise Work. Steps in Cutting Mortises. Things to Avoid in Mortising. Lap-and-Butt Joints. Scarfing. The Tongue and Groove. Beading. Ornamental Bead Finish. The Bead and Rabbet. Shading with Beads and Rabbets. XI. HOUSE BUILDING Page 113 House Building. The Home and Embellishments. Beauty Not Ornamentation. Plain Structures. Colonial Type. The Roof the Keynote. Bungalow Types. General House Building. Building Plans. The Plain Square-Floor Plan. The Rectangular Plan. Room Measurements. Front and Side Lines. The Roof. Roof Pitch. The Foundation. The Sills. The Flooring Joist. The Studding. Setting Up. The Plate. Intermediate Studding. Wall Headers. Ceiling Joist. Braces. The Rafters. The Gutter. Setting Door and Window Frames. Plastering and Finish Work. XII. BRIDGES, TRUSSED WORK AND LIKE STRUCTURES Page 130 Bridges. Self-supporting Roofs. Common Trusses. The Vertical Upright Truss. The Warren Girder. The Bowstring Girder. Fundamental Truss Forms. XIII. THE BEST WOODS FOR THE BEGINNER Page 134 The Best Woods. Soft Woods. Hard Woods. The Most Difficult Woods. The Hard-ribbed Grain in Wood. The Easiest Working Woods. Differences in the Working of Woods. Forcing Saws in Wood. XIV. WOOD TURNING Page 138 Advantages of Wood Turning. Simple Turning Lathe. The Rails. The Legs. Centering Blocks. The Tail-stock. The Tool Rest. Materials. The Mandrel. Fly-wheel. The Tools Required. XV. ON THE USE OF STAINS Page 147 Soft Wood. Use of Stains. Stains as Imitations. Good Taste in Staining. Great Contrasts Bad. Staining Contrasting Woods. Hard Wood Imitations. Natural Effects. Natural Wood Stains. Polishing Stained Surfaces. XVI. THE CARPENTER AND THE ARCHITECT Page 152 XVII. USEFUL ARTICLES TO MAKE Page 155 Common Bench. Its Proportions. Square Top Stool. Folding Blacking Box. Convenient Easel. Hanging Book-rack. Sad Iron Holder. Bookcase. Wood-box. Parallel Bars for Boys' Use. Mission Writing Desk. Screen Frame. Mission Chair. Grandfather's Clock. Knockdown and Adjustable Bookcase. Coal Scuttle Frame or Case. Mission Arm Chair. Dog-house. Settle, With Convenient Shelves. Towel Rack. Sofa Framework. XVIII. SPECIAL TOOLS AND THEIR USES Page 170 Bit and Level Adjuster. Miter Boxes. Swivel Arm Uprights. Movable Stops. Angle Dividers. "Odd Job" Tool. Bit Braces. Ratchet Mechanism. Interlocking Jaws. Steel Frame Breast Drills. Horizontal Boring. 3-Jaw Chuck. Planes. Rabbeting, Beading and Matching. Cutter Adjustment. Depth Gage. Slitting Gage. Dovetail Tongue and Groove Plane. Router Planes. Bottom Surfacing. Door Trim Plane. XIX. ROOFING TRUSSES Page 185 Characteristics of Trusses. Tie Beams. Ornamentation. Objects of Beams, Struts and Braces. Utilizing Space. Types of Structures. Gambrel Roof. Purlin Roof. The Princess Truss. Arched, or Cambered, Tie Beam Truss. The Mansard. Scissors Beam. Braced Collar Beam. Rib and Collar Truss. Hammer-beam Truss. Flying Buttress. XX. ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF JOINTS Page 197 Definition and Uses. Different Types. Bridle Joint. Spur Tenon. Saddle Joints. Joggle Joint. Heel Joints. Stub Tenon. Tusk Tenon. Double Tusk Tenon. Cogged Joints. Anchor Joints. Deep Anchor Joints. XXI. SOME MISTAKES AND A LITTLE ADVICE IN CARPENTRY Page 205 Lessons From Mistakes. Planing the Edge of a Board Straight. Planing it Square. Planing to Dimensions. Holding the Plane. How it Should be Run on the Edge of the Board. Truing With the Weight of the Plane. A Steady Grasp. In Smoothing Boards. Correct Sand-papering. Gluing. Removing Surplus Glue. Work Edge and Work Side. The Scribing and Marking Line. Finishing Surfaces. Sawing a Board Square. The Stroke of the Saw. Sawing Out of True. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIG. 1. A typical work bench Frontispiece PAGE 2. Hatchet 6 3. Hammer 7 4. Common saw 7 5. Plane 8 6. Jack plane bit 9 6a. Fore plane bit 10 7. Firmer chisel 11 7a. Mortising chisel 12 8. Trestle 12 9. Miter box 13 10. Incorrect saw setting 17 10a. Correct saw setting 17 11. Saw setting device 17 12. Filing angle 18 13. Rip saw 19 14. Cross cut 20 15. Filing clamp 21 16. Grindstone 23 17. Correct manner of holding tool 24 18. Incorrect way of holding tool 24 19. Gage 26 20. Starting a saw 31 21. Wrong sawing angle 32 22. Correct sawing angle 33 23. Thrust cut 34 24. Chinese saw 34 25. Moving angle for plane 35 26. Holding gage 36 27. Laying out table leg 43 28. The first marking line 44 29. Scribing mortise line 44 30. The corner mortises 44 31. The side rail 46 32. Scribing the tenons 46 33. Cross scoring 47 34. The tenon 47 35. Finishing the tenon 47 36. The tenon and mortise 48 37. The drawer support 48 38. Drawer cleats 49 39. Assembled table frame 50 40. The top 51 41. The drawer 52 42. Bevel joint 53 43. Miter joint 53 44. Picture frame joint 54 45. Initial marks for dovetails 55 46. End marks for dovetails 55 47. Angles for dovetails 55 48. Cutting out recesses for dovetails 56 49. Tongues for dovetails 56 50. Recess for dovetails 56 51. Determining angles 61 52. Marking degrees 63 53. Angles from base lines 63 54. Stepping off spaces 63 55. Arcade 67 56. Arch 67 57. Buttress 67 58. Chamfer 67 59. Cooter 67 60. Crenelated 67 61. Crosses 67 62. Curb roof 67 63. Cupola 67 64. Console 67 65. Corbels 67 66. Dormer 67 67. Dowel 67 68. Drips 67 69. Detail 68 70. Extrados 68 71. Engrailed 68 72. Facet 68 73. Fret 68 74. Frontal 68 75. Frustrums 68 76. Fylfat 68 77. Gambrel 68 78. Gargoyle 68 79. Gudgeon 68 80. Guilloche 68 81. Half timbered 68 82. Hammer beam 68 83. Haunches 69 84. Header 69 85. Hip roof 69 86. Hood molding 69 87. Inclave 69 88. Interlacing arch 69 89. Invected 69 90. Inverted arch 69 91. Keystone 69 92. King post 69 93. Label 69 94. Louver 69 95. Lintel 70 96. Lug 70 97. M-roof 70 98. Mansard roof 70 99. Newel post 70 100. Parquetry 70 101. Peen, or pein 70 102. Pendant 70 103. Pentastyle 70 104. Pedestal 70 105. Pintle 70 106. Portico 70 107. Plate 70 108. Queen post 71 109. Quirk molding 71 110. Re-entering 71 111. Rafter 71 112. Scarfing 71 113. Scotia molding 71 114. Sill 71 115. Skew back 71 116. Spandrel 71 117. Strut 71 118. Stud, studding 71 119. Stile 72 120. Trammel 72 121. Turret 72 122. Transom 72 123. Valley roof 72 125. Plain line 74 126. Concave shading 74 127. Convex shading 74 128. Wave shading 75 129. Light past concave surface 75 130. Light past convex surface 75 131. Plain surface 75 132. Outlines 76 133. Raised surface 77 134. Depressed surface 77 135. Shading raised surfaces 78 136. Shading depressed surfaces 78 137. Plain cubical outline 79 138. Indicating cube 79 139. Confused lines 79 140. Heavy horizontal lines 80 141. Heavy vertical lines 80 142. Isometric cube 81 143. Cube and circle 81 144. Flattened perspective 82 145. Angles in isometric cube 83 146. Plain circle 84 147. Sphere shading 84 148. Drawing regular ellipse 86 149. Drawing irregular ellipse 88 150. Drawing spiral 89 151. Abscissa 90 152. Angle 91 153. Apothegm 91 154. Apsides, or apsis 91 155. Chord 91 156. Convolute 91 157. Conic sections 91 158. Conoid 91 159. Cycloid 91 160. Ellipsoid 91 161. Epicycloid 91 162. Evolute 91 163. Focus 91 164. Gnome 91 165. Hyperbola 91 167. Hypothenuse 91 168. Incidence 92 169. Isosceles triangle 92 170. Parabola 92 171. Parallelogram 92 172. Pelecoid 92 173. Polygons 92 174. Pyramid 92 175. Quadrant 92 176. Quadrilateral 92 177. Rhomb 92 178. Sector 92 179. Segment 92 180. Sinusoid 92 181. Tangent 92 182. Tetrahedron 92 183. Vertex 92 184. Volute 92 185. Band (molding) 94 186. Astragal (molding) 94 187. Cavetto (molding) 94 188. Ovolo (molding) 94 189. Torus (molding) 95 190. Apophyges (molding) 95 191. Cymatium (molding) 95 192. Ogee-recta (molding) 95 193. Ogee-reversa (molding) 96 194. Bead (molding) 96 195. Casement (molding) 97 196. The Doric column 98 197. Front of cabinet 100 198. Facia board 100 199. Molding on facia board 100 200. Ogee-recta on facia 101 201. Trim below facia 101 202. Trim below ogee 101 203. Trim above base 102 204. Trim above base molding 102 205. Shadows cast by plain moldings 103 206. Mortise and tenon joint 105 207. Incorrect mortising 105 208. Steps in mortising 106 209. The shoulders of tenons 108 210. Lap-and-butt joint 108 211. Panel joint 109 212. Scarfing 109 213. Tongue and groove 110 214. Beading 110 215. Outside beading finish 110 216. Edge beading 111 217. Corner beading 111 218. Point beading 111 219. Round edge beading 111 220. Beading and molding 111 221. First square house plan 117 222. First rectangular house plan 118 223. Square house to scale 119 224. Rectangular house to scale 120 225. Front elevation of square house 121 226. Elevation of rectangular house 121 227. Illustrating one-third pitch 122 228. Illustrating half pitch 122 229. The sills at the corner 123 230. The joist and sills 123 231. The plate splice 124 232. The rafters 125 233. The gutter 126 234. The cornice 127 234a. The finish without gutter 128 235. Common truss 130 236. Upright truss 131 237. Vertical upright truss 131 238. Warren girder 132 239. Extended Warren girder 132 240. Bowstring girder 132 241. Frame details of wood turning lathe 139 242. Tail stock details 140 243. Tool rest details 142 244. Section of mandrel 143 245. View of turning lathe 145 246. Turning tools 146 247. Bench 155 248. Stool 156 249. Blacking box 156 250. Easel 157 251. Hanging book rack 158 252. Book shelf 159 253. Wood box 160 254. Horizontal bars 161 255. Mission desk 161 256. Screen frame 162 257. Mission chair 162 258. Grandfather's clock 163 259. Frame for bookcase 164 260. Coal scuttle case 165 261. Mission arm chair 165 262. Dog house 168 263. Settle 167 264. Towel rack 168 265. Mission sofa frame 168 266. Bit and square level 170 267. Metal miter box 171 268. Parts of metal miter box 172 269. Angle dividers 173 270. An "odd job" tool 174 271. Universal-jaw brace 176 272. Taper-shank bit brace 176 273. Alligator-jaw brace 176 274. Steel frame breast drill 177 275. Steel frame breast drill 177 276. Steel frame breast drill 177 277. Details of metal plane 179 278. Rabbet, matching and dado plane 180 279. Molding and beading plane 181 280. Dovetail tongue and groove plane 182 281. Router planes 183 282. Router planes 183 283. Door trim plane 184 284. Gambrel roof 187 285. Purlin roof 188 286. Princess truss 189 287. Arched, or cambered, tie beam 190 288. The mansard 191 289. Scissors beam 192 290. Braced collar beam 193 291. Rib and collar truss 194 291-1/2. Hammer-beam truss 195 292. Bridle joints 197 293. Spur tenons 198 294. Saddle joints 198 295. Joggle joints 199 296. Framing joints 199 297. Heel joints 200 298. Stub tenon 200 299. Tusk tenon 201 300. Double tusk tenon 202 301. Cogged joints 203 302. Anchor joint 203 303. Deep anchor joint 204 CARPENTRY A PRACTICAL COURSE, WHICH TELLS IN CONCISE AND SIMPLE FORM "HOW TO DO IT" INTRODUCTORY Carpentry is the oldest of the arts, and it has been said that the knowledge necessary to make a good carpenter fits one for almost any trade or occupation requiring the use of tools. The hatchet, the saw, and the plane are the three primal implements of the carpenter. The value is in knowing how to use them. The institution of Manual Training Schools everywhere is but a tardy recognition of the value of systematic training in the use of tools. There is no branch of industry which needs such diversification, in order to become efficient. The skill of the blacksmith is centered in his ability to forge, to weld, and to temper; that of the machinist depends upon the callipered dimensions of his product; the painter in his taste for harmony; the mason on his ability to cut the stone accurately; and the plasterer to produce a uniform surface. But the carpenter must, in order to be an expert, combine all these qualifications, in a greater or less degree, and his vocation may justly be called the King of Trades. Rightly, therefore, it should be cultivated in order to learn the essentials of manual training work. But there is another feature of the utmost importance and value, which is generally overlooked, and on which there is placed too little stress, even in many of the manual training schools. The training of the mind has been systematized so as to bring into operation the energies of all the brain cells. Manual training to be efficient should, at the same time, be directed into such channels as will most widely stimulate the muscular development of the child, while at the same time cultivating his mind. There is no trade which offers such a useful field as carpentry. It may be said that the various manual operations bring into play every muscle of the body. The saw, the plane, the hammer, the chisel, each requires its special muscular energy. The carpenter, unlike the blacksmith, does not put all his brawn into his shoulders, nor develop his torso at the expense of his other muscles, like the mason. It may also be said that, unlike most other occupations, the carpenter has both out-of-door and indoor exercise, so that he is at all times able to follow his occupation, summer or winter, rain or shine; and this also further illustrates the value of this branch of endeavor as a healthful recreation. It is the aim of this book to teach boys the primary requirements--not to generalize--but to show how to prepare and how to do the work; what tools and materials to use; and in what manner the tools used may be made most serviceable, and used most advantageously. It would be of no value to describe and illustrate how a bracket is made; or how the framework of a structure is provided with mortises and tenons in order to hold it together. The boy must have something as a base which will enable him to design his own creations, and not be an imitator; his mind must develop with his body. It is the principal aim of this book to give the boy something to think about while he is learning how to bring each individual part to perfection. If the boy understands that there is a principle underlying each structural device; that there is a reason for making certain things a definite way, he is imbued with an incentive which will sooner or later develop into an initiative of his own. It is this phase in the artisan's life which determines whether he will be merely a machine or an intelligent organism. This work puts together in a simple, concise form, not only the fundamentals which every mechanic should learn to know, but it defines every structural form used in this art, and illustrates all terms it is necessary to use in the employment of carpentry. A full chapter is devoted to drawings practically applied. All terms are diagrammed and defined, so that the mind may readily grasp the ideas involved. Finally, it will be observed that every illustration has been specially drawn for this book. We have not adopted the plan usually followed in books of this class, of taking stock illustrations of manufacturers' tools and devices, nor have we thought it advisable to take a picture of a tool or a machine and then write a description around it. We have illustrated the book to explain "_how to do the work_"; also, to teach the boy what the trade requires, and to give him the means whereby he may readily find the form of every device, tool, and structure used in the art. CHAPTER I TOOLS AND THEIR USES KNOWLEDGE OF TOOLS.--A knowledge of tools and their uses is the first and most important requirement. The saw, the plane, the hatchet and the hammer are well known to all boys; but how to use them, and where to use the different varieties of each kind of tool, must be learned, because each tool grew out of some particular requirement in the art. These uses will now be explained. A FULL KIT OF TOOLS.--A kit of tools necessary for doing any plain work should embrace the following: 1. A Hatchet. 2. A Claw Hammer--two sizes preferred. 3. Cross-cut Saw, 20 inches long. 4. Rip Saw, 24 inches long. 5. Wooden Mallet. 6. Jack Plane. 7. Smoothing Plane. 8. Compass Saw. 9. Brace. 10. Bits for Brace, ranging from 1/4 inch to 1 inch diameter. 11. Several small Gimlets. 12. Square. 13. Compass. 14. Draw-knife. 15. Rule. 16. Two Gages. 17. Set of Firmer Chisels. 18. Two Mortising Chisels. 19. Small Back Saw. 20. Saw Clamps. 21. Miter Box. 22. Bevel Square. 23. Small Hand Square. 24. Pliers. 25. Pair of Awls. 26. Hand Clamps. 27. Set Files. 28. Glue Pot. 29. Oil Stone. 30. Grindstone. 31. Trusses. 32. Work Bench. 33. Plumb Bob. 34. Spirit Level. THE HATCHET.--The hatchet should be ground with a bevel on each side, and not on one side only, as is customary with a plasterer's lathing hatchet, because the blade of the hatchet is used for trimming off the edges of boards. Unless ground off with a bevel on both sides it cannot be controlled to cut accurately. A light hatchet is preferable to a heavy one. It should never be used for nailing purposes, except in emergencies. The pole of the hammer--that part which is generally used to strike the nail with--is required in order to properly balance the hatchet when used for trimming material. [Illustration: _Fig. 2._] THE CLAW HAMMER.--This is the proper tool for driving nails and for drawing them out. Habits should be formed with the beginner, which will be of great service as the education proceeds. One of these habits is to persist in using the tool for the purpose for which it was made. The expert workman (and he becomes expert because of it) makes the hammer do its proper work; and so with every other tool. [Illustration: _Fig. 3._] [Illustration: _Fig. 4._] ABOUT SAWS.--There are four well-defined kinds. First, a long, flat saw, for cross-cutting. Second, a slightly larger saw for ripping purposes. Third, a back saw, with a rib on the rear edge to hold the blade rigid, used for making tenons; and, fourth, a compass or keyhole saw. CROSS-CUTS.--The difference between a cross-cut and a rip saw is, that in the latter the teeth have less pitch and are usually larger than in the cross-cut saw. The illustrations (Figs. 13 and 14) will distinctly show the difference in the teeth. When a cross-cut saw is used for ripping along the grain of the wood, the teeth, if disposed at an angle, will ride over the grain or fiber of the wood, and refuse to take hold or bite into the wood. On the other hand, if the rip saw is used for cross-cutting purposes, the saw kerf will be rough and jagged. [Illustration: _Fig. 5._] The back saw is used almost exclusively for making tenons, and has uniformly fine teeth so as to give a smooth finish to the wood. PLANES.--The plane may be called the æsthetic tool in the carpenter's kit. It is the most difficult tool to handle and the most satisfactory when thoroughly mastered. How to care for and handle it will be referred to in a subsequent chapter. We are now concerned with its uses only. Each complete kit must have three distinct planes, namely, the jack plane, which is for taking off the rough saw print surface of the board. The short smoothing plane, which is designed to even up the inequalities made by the jack plane; and the long finishing plane, or fore plane, which is intended to straighten the edges of boards or of finished surfaces. [Illustration: _Fig. 6. Jack plane bit._] THE JACK PLANE.--This plane has the cutting edge of its blade ground so it is slightly curved (Fig. 6), because, as the bit must be driven out so it will take a deep bite into the rough surface of the wood, the curved cutting edge prevents the corner edges of the bit from digging into the planed surface. On the other hand, the bits of the smoothing and finishing planes are ground straight across their cutting edges. In the foregoing we have not enumerated the different special planes, designed to make beads, rabbets, tongues and grooves, but each type is fully illustrated, so that an idea may be obtained of their characteristics. (Fig. 6_a_). GAGES.--One of the most valuable tools in the whole set is the gage, but it is, in fact, the least known. This is simply a straight bar, with a sharpened point projecting out on one side near its end, and having an adjustable sliding head or cheekpiece. This tool is indispensable in making mortises or tenons, because the sharpened steel point which projects from the side of the bar, serves to outline and define the edges of the mortises or tenons, so that the cutting line may readily be followed. [Illustration: _Fig. 6a. Fore-plane bit._] This is the most difficult tool to hold when in use, but that will be fully explained under its proper head. Each kit should have two, as in making mortises and tenons one gage is required for each side of the mortise or tenon. CHISELS.--Two kinds are found in every kit--one called the firmer (Fig. 7) and the mortising chisel. The firmer has a flat body or blade, and a full set ranges in width from three-eighths of an inch to two inches. The sizes most desirable and useful are the one-half inch, the inch and the inch-and-a-half widths. These are used for trimming out cross grains or rebates for setting door locks and hinges and for numerous other uses where sharp-end tools are required. [Illustration: _Fig. 7._] THE MORTISING CHISEL.--The mortising chisel (Fig. 7_a_), on the other hand, is very narrow and thick, with a long taper down to the cutting edge. They are usually in such widths as to make them stock sizes for mortises. Never, under any circumstances, use a hammer or hatchet for driving chisels. The mallet should be used invariably. [Illustration: _Fig. 7a._] TRUSSES.--There should be at least two, each three feet in length and twenty inches in height. SAW CLAMPS.--These are necessary adjuncts, and should be made of hard wood, perfectly straight and just wide enough to take in the narrow back saw. The illustration shows their shape and form. THE GRINDSTONES.--It is better to get a first-class stone, which may be small and rigged up with a foot treadle. A soft, fine-grained stone is most serviceable, and it should have a water tray, and never be used excepting with plenty of water. [Illustration: _Fig. 8._] AN OIL STONE is as essential as a grindstone. For giving a good edge to tools it is superior to a water stone. It should be provided with a top, and covered when not in use, to keep out dust and grit. These are the little things that contribute to success and should be carefully observed. THE MITER BOX.--This should be 14 inches long and 3" by 3" inside, made of hard wood 3/4" thick. The sides should be nailed to the bottom, as shown. [Illustration: _Fig. 9._] THE WORK BENCH.--In its proper place we show in detail the most approved form of work bench, fitted with a tool rack to hold all the tools, conveniently arranged. In this chapter we are more particularly concerned with the uses of tools than their construction; and we impress on boys the necessity of having a place for everything, and that every tool should be kept in its proper place. A carpenter's shop filled with chips, shavings and other refuse is not a desirable place for the indiscriminate placing of tools. If correct habits are formed at the outset, by carefully putting each tool in its place after using, it will save many an hour of useless hunting and annoyance. One of the most important things in laying off work, for instance, on trusses, is the disposition of the saw and square. Our illustration shows each truss with side cleats, which will permit the user temporarily to deposit the saw or the square so that it will be handy, and at the same time be out of the way of the work and prevent either of the tools from being thrown to the floor. In the same way, and for the same purpose, the work bench has temporary holding cleats at the end and a shelf in front, which are particularly desirable, because either a saw or a square is an encumbrance on a work bench while the work is being assembled, and tools of this kind should not be laid flat on a working surface, nor should they be stood in a leaning position against a truss or work bench. _Strictly observe these fundamentals_--Never place a tool with the cutting edge toward you. Always have the racks or receptacles so made that the handle may be seized. Don't put a tool with an exposed cutting edge above or below another tool in such a manner that the hand or the tool you are handling can come into contact with the edge. Never keep the nail or screw boxes above the work bench. They should always be kept to one side, to prevent, as much as possible, the bench from becoming a depository for nails. Keep the top of the bench free from tools. Always keep the planes on a narrow sub-shelf at the rear of the bench. If order was Heaven's first law, it is a good principle to apply it in a workman's shop, and its observance will form a habit that will soon become a pleasure to follow. CHAPTER II HOW TO GRIND AND SHARPEN TOOLS CARE OF TOOLS.--Dull tools indicate the character of the workman. In an experience of over forty years, I have never known a good workman to keep poorly sharpened tools. While it is true that the capacity to sharpen tools can be acquired only by practice, correct habits at the start will materially assist. In doing this part of the artisan's work, it should be understood that there is a right as well as a wrong way. There is a principle involved in the sharpening of every tool, which should be observed. A skilled artisan knows that there is a particular way to grind the bits of each plane; that the manner of setting a saw not only contributes to its usefulness, but will materially add to the life of the saw; that a chisel cannot be made to do good work unless its cutting edge is square and at the right working angle. FIRST REQUISITE.--A beginner should never attempt a piece of work until he learns how the different tools should be sharpened, or at least learn the principle involved. Practice will make perfect. SAWS.--As the saw is such an important part of the kit, I shall devote some space to the subject. _First_, as to setting the saw. The object of this is to make the teeth cut a wider kerf than the thickness of the blade, and thereby cause the saw to travel freely. A great many so-called "saw sets" are found in the market, many of them built on wrong principles, as will be shown, and these are incapable of setting accurately. [Illustration: _Fig. 10._] [Illustration: _Fig. 10a._] [Illustration: _Fig. 11._] HOW TO SET.--To set a saw accurately, that is, to drive out each tooth the same distance, is the first requirement, and the second is to bend out the whole tooth, and not the point only. In the illustration (Fig. 10), the point is merely bent out. This is wrong. The right way is shown in Fig. 10_a_. The whole tooth is bent, showing the correct way of setting. The reasons for avoiding one way and following the other are: First, that if the point projects to one side, each point or tooth will dig into the wood, and produce tooth prints in the wood, which make a roughened surface. Second, that if there are inequalities in setting the teeth (as is sure to be the case when only the points are bent out), the most exposed points will first wear out, and thereby cause saw deterioration. Third, a saw with the points sticking out causes a heavy, dragging cut, and means additional labor. Where the whole body of the tooth is bent, the saw will run smoothly and easily through the kerf and produce a smooth-cut surface. [Illustration: _Fig. 12._] Our illustration (Fig. 11) shows a very simple setting block, the principal merit of which is that any boy can make it, and in the use of which he cannot go wrong in setting a tooth. SIMPLE SAW SETTER.--Take a block of wood, a 4 by 4 inch studding, four inches long. Get a piece of metal one-half inch thick and two inches square. Have a blacksmith or machinist bore a quarter-inch hole through it in the center and countersink the upper side so it may be securely fastened in a mortise in the block, with its upper side flush with the upper surface of the block. Now, with a file, finish off one edge, going back for a quarter of an inch, the angle at A to be about 12 degrees. [Illustration: _Fig. 13. Rip-Saw._] FILING ANGLES.--In its proper place will be shown how you may easily calculate and measure degrees in work of this kind. Fig. 12 shows an approximation to the right angle. B, B (Fig. 11) should be a pair of wooden pegs, driven into the wooden block on each side of the metal piece. The teeth of the saw rest against the pegs so that they serve as a guide or a gage, and the teeth of the saw, therefore, project over the inclined part (B) of the metal block. Now, with an ordinary punch and a hammer, each alternate tooth may be driven down until it rests flat on the inclined face (A), so that it is impossible to set the teeth wrongly. When you glance down the end of a properly set saw, you will see a V-shaped channel, and if you will place a needle in the groove and hold the saw at an angle, the needle will travel down without falling out. [Illustration: _Fig. 14. cross-cut._] FILING.--The next step is the filing. Two things must be observed: the pitch and the angle. By pitch is meant the inclination of the teeth. Note the illustration (Fig. 13), which shows the teeth of a rip saw. You will see at A that the pitch of the tooth is at right angles to the edge of the saw. In Fig. 14, which shows the teeth of a cross-cut saw, the pitch (B) is about 10 degrees off. The teeth of the rip saw are also larger than those of the cross-cut. THE ANGLE OF FILING.--By angle is meant the cutting position of the file. In Fig. 12, the lines B represent the file disposed at an angle of 12 degrees, not more, for a rip saw. For a cross-cut the angle of the file may be less. SAW CLAMPS.--You may easily make a pair of saw clamps as follows: Take two pieces of hard wood, each three inches wide, seven-eighths of an inch thick, and equal in length to the longest saw. Bevel one edge of each as shown in A (Fig. 15), so as to leave an edge (B) about one-eighth of an inch thick. At one end cut away the corner on the side opposite the bevel, as shown at C, so the clamps will fit on the saw around the saw handle. [Illustration: _Fig. 15._] When the saw is placed between these clamps and held together by the jaws of the vise, you are ready for the filing operation. Observe the following _filing suggestions_: Always hold the file horizontal or level. In filing, use the whole length of the file. Do the work by a slow, firm sweep. Do not file all of the teeth along the saw at one operation, but only the alternate teeth, so as to keep the file at the same angle, and thus insure accuracy; then turn the saw and keep the file constantly at one angle for the alternate set of teeth. Give the same number of strokes, and exert the same pressure on the file for each tooth, to insure uniformity. Learn also to make a free, easy and straight movement back and forth with the file. THE FILE.--In order to experiment with the filing motion, take two blocks of wood, and try surfacing them off with a file. When you place the two filed surfaces together after the first trial both will be convex, because the hands, in filing, unless you exert the utmost vigilance, will assume a crank-like movement. The filing test is so to file the two blocks that they will fit tightly together without rolling on each other. Before shaping and planing machines were invented, machinists were compelled to plane down and accurately finish off surfaces with a file. In using the files on saws, however small the file may be, one hand should hold the handle and the other hand the tip of the file. A file brush should always be kept on hand, as it pays to preserve files by cleaning them. [Illustration: _Fig. 16._] THE GRINDSTONE.--As most of the tools require a grindstone for sharpening purposes, an illustration is given as a guide, with a diagram to show the proper grinding angle. In Fig. 16 the upright (A) of the frame serves as a line for the eye, so that if the point of the tool is brought to the sight line, and the tool (C) held level, you will always be able to maintain the correct angle. There is no objection to providing a rest, for instance, like the cross bars (D, D), but the artisan disdains such contrivances, and he usually avoids them for two reasons: First, because habit enables him to hold the tool horizontally; and, second, by holding the tool firmly in the hand he has better control of it. There is only one thing which can be said in favor of a rest, and that is, the stone may be kept truer circumferentially, as all stones have soft spots or sides. IN THE USE OF GRINDSTONES.--There are certain things to avoid and to observe in the use of stones. Never use one spot on the stone, however narrow the tool may be. Always move the tool from side to side. Never grind a set of narrow tools successively. If you have chisels to grind intersperse their grinding with plane bits, hatchet or other broad cutting tools, so as to prevent the stone from having grooves therein. Never use a tool on a stone unless you have water in the tray. [Illustration: _Fig. 17. Correct manner of holding tool._] [Illustration: _Fig. 18. Incorrect way of holding tool._] CORRECT WAY TO HOLD TOOL FOR GRINDING.--There is a correct way to hold each tool; see illustration (Fig. 17). The left hand should grasp the tool firmly, near the sharp edge, as shown, and the right hand should loosely hold the tool behind the left hand. There is a reason for this which will be apparent after you grind a few tools. The firm grasp of the left hand gives you absolute control of the blade, so it cannot turn, and when inequalities appear in the grindstone, the rigid hold will prevent the blade from turning, and thus enable you to correct the inequalities of the stone. Bear in mind, the stone should be taken care of just as much as the tools. An experienced workman is known by the condition of his tools, and the grindstone is the best friend he has among his tools. INCORRECT WAY TO HOLD TOOL FOR GRINDING.--The incorrect way of holding a tool is shown in Fig. 18. This, I presume, is the universal way in which the novice takes the tool. It is wrong for the reason that the thumbs of both hands are on top of the blade, and they serve as pivots on which the tool may turn. The result is that the corners of the tool will dig into the stone to a greater or less degree, particularly if it has a narrow blade, like a chisel. Try the experiment of grinding a quarter-inch chisel by holding it the incorrect way; and then grasp it firmly with the left hand, and you will at once see the difference. The left hand serves both as a vise and as a fulcrum, whereas the right hand controls the angle of the tool. [Illustration: _Fig. 19._] These remarks apply to all chisels, plane bits and tools of that character, but it is obvious that a drawknife, which is always held by the handles in grinding, and hatchets, axes and the like, cannot be held in the same manner. A too common error is to press the tool too hard on the stone. This is wrong. Do not try to force the grinding. Then, again, it is the practice of some to turn the stone away from the tool. The stone should always move toward the tool, so as to prevent forming a feather edge. THE PLANE.--Indiscriminate use of planes should be avoided. Never use the fore or smoothing planes on rough surfaces. The jack plane is the proper tool for this work. On the other hand, the fore plane should invariably be used for straightening the edges of boards, or for fine surfacing purposes. As the jack plane has its bit ground with a curved edge, it is admirably adapted for taking off the rough saw print surface. THE GAGE.--The illustration (Fig. 19) shows one of the most useful tools in the kit. It is used to scribe the thickness of the material which is to be dressed down, or for imprinting the edges of tenons and mortises. Two should be provided in every kit, for convenience. The scribing point should be sharpened with a file, the point being filed to form a blade, which is at right angles to the bar, or parallel with the movable cheekpiece. CHISELS.--I have already pointed out, in general, how to hold tools for grinding purposes, this description applying particularly to chisels, but several additional things may be added. Always be careful to grind the chisel so its cutting edge is square with the side edge. This will be difficult at first, but you will see the value of this as you use the tool. For instance, in making rebates for hinges, or recesses and mortises for locks, the tool will invariably run crooked, unless it is ground square. The chisel should never be struck with a hammer or metal instrument, as the metal pole or peon of the hammer will sliver the handle. The wooden mallet should invariably be used. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.--If the workman will carefully observe the foregoing requirements he will have taken the most important steps in the knowledge of the art. If he permits himself to commence work without having his tools in first-class condition, he is trying to do work under circumstances where even a skilled workman is liable to fail. Avoid making for yourself a lot of unnecessary work. The best artisans are those who try to find out and know which is the best tool, or how to make a tool for each requirement, but that tool, to be serviceable, must be properly made, and that means it must be rightly sharpened. CHAPTER III HOW TO HOLD AND HANDLE TOOLS Observation may form part of each boy's lesson, but when it comes to the handling of tools, practice becomes the only available means of making a workman. Fifty years of observation would never make an observer an archer or a marksman, nor would it enable him to shoe a horse or to build a table. It sometimes happens that an apprentice will, with little observation, seize a saw in the proper way, or hold a plane in the correct manner, and, in time, the watchful boy will acquire fairly correct habits. But why put in useless time and labor in order to gain that which a few well-directed hints and examples will convey? Tools are made and are used as short cuts toward a desired end. Before the saw was invented the knife was used laboriously to sever and shape the materials. Before planes were invented a broad, flat sharpened blade was used to smooth off surfaces. Holes were dug out by means of small chisels requiring infinite patience and time. Each succeeding tool proclaimed a shorter and an easier way to do a certain thing. The man or boy who can make a new labor-saving tool is worthy of as much praise as the man who makes two blades of grass grow where one grew before. Let us now thoroughly understand how to hold and use each tool. That is half the value of the tool itself. THE SAW.--With such a commonplace article as the saw, it might be assumed that the ordinary apprentice would look upon instruction with a smile of derision. HOW TO START A SAW.--If the untried apprentice has such an opinion set him to work at the task of cutting off a board accurately on a line. He will generally make a failure of the attempt to start the saw true to the line, to say nothing of following the line so the kerf is true and square with the board. HOW TO START ON A LINE.--The first mistake he makes is to saw _on the line_. This should never be done. The work should be so laid out that the saw kerf is on the discarded side of the material. The saw should cut alongside the line, and _the line should not_ be obliterated in the cutting. Material must be left for trimming and finishing. THE FIRST STROKE.--Now, to hold the saw in starting is the difficult task to the beginner. Once mastered it is simple and easy. The only time in which the saw should be firmly held by the hand is during the initial cut or two; afterwards always hold the handle loosely. There is nothing so tiring as a tightly grasped saw. The saw has but one handle, hence it is designed to be used with one hand. Sometimes, with long and tiresome jobs, in ripping, two hands may be used, but one hand can always control a saw better than two hands. [Illustration: _Fig. 20._] THE STARTING CUT.--In order to make our understanding of the starting cut more explicit, we refer to Fig. 20, in which the thumb of the left hand is shown in the position of a guide--the end of the thumb being held up a sufficient distance to clear the teeth. In this position you need not fear that the teeth of the saw (A) will ride up over the thumb if you have a firm grasp of the saw handle. The first stroke should be upwardly, not downwardly. While in the act of drawing up the saw you can judge whether the saw blade is held by the thumb gage in the proper position to cut along the mark, and when the saw moves downwardly for the first cut, you may be assured that the cut is accurate, or at the right place, and the thumb should be kept in its position until two or three cuts are made, and the work is then fairly started. [Illustration: _Fig. 21. Wrong sawing angle._] FOR CROSS-CUTTING.--For ordinary cross-cutting the angle of the saw should be at 45 degrees. For ripping, the best results are found at less than 45 degrees, but you should avoid flattening down the angle. An incorrect as well as a correct angle are shown in Figs. 21 and 22. FORCING A SAW.--Forcing a saw through the wood means a crooked kerf. The more nearly the saw is held at right angles to a board, the greater is the force which must be applied to it by the hand to cause it to bite into the wood; and, on the other hand, if the saw is laid down too far, as shown in the incorrect way, it is a very difficult matter to follow the working line. Furthermore, it is a hard matter to control the saw so that it will cut squarely along the board, particularly when ripping. The eye must be the only guide in the disposition of the saw. Some boys make the saw run in one direction, and others cause it to lean the opposite way. After you have had some experience and know which way you lean, correct your habits by disposing the saw in the opposite direction. [Illustration: _Fig. 22. Right sawing angle._] THE STROKE.--Make a long stroke, using the full blade of the saw. Don't acquire the "jerky" style of sawing. If the handle is held loosely, and the saw is at the proper angle, the weight of the saw, together with the placement of the handle on the saw blade, will be found sufficient to make the requisite cut at each stroke. You will notice that the handle of every saw is mounted nearest the back edge. (See Fig. 23.) The reason for so mounting it is, that as the cutting stroke is downward, the line of thrust is above the tooth line, and as this line is at an angle to the line of thrust, the tendency is to cause the saw teeth to dig into the wood. [Illustration: _Fig. 23._] [Illustration: CHINESE SAW. _Fig. 24._] THE CHINESE SAW.--This saw is designed to saw with an upward cut, and the illustration (Fig. 24) shows the handle jutting out below the tooth line, in order to cause the teeth to dig into the material as the handle is drawn upwardly. Reference is made to these features to impress upon beginners the value of observation, and to demonstrate the reason for making each tool a particular way. THINGS TO AVOID.--Do not oscillate the saw as you draw it back and forth. This is unnecessary work, and shows impatience in the use of the tool. There is such an infinite variety of use for the different tools that there is no necessity for rendering the work of any particular tool, or tools, burdensome. Each in its proper place, handled intelligently, will become a pleasure, as well as a source of profit. [Illustration: _Fig. 25._] THE PLANE.--The jack plane and the fore plane are handled with both hands, and the smoothing plane with one hand, but only when used for dressing the ends of boards. For other uses both hands are required. ANGLES FOR HOLDING PLANES.--Before commencing to plane a board, always observe the direction in which the grain of the wood runs. This precaution will save many a piece of material, because if the jack plane is set deep it will run into the wood and cause a rough surface, which can be cured only by an extra amount of labor in planing down. Never move the jack plane or the smoothing plane over the work so that the body of the tool is in a direct line with the movement of the plane. It should be held at an angle of about 12 or 15 degrees (see Fig. 25). The fore plane should always be held straight with the movement of the plane, because the length of the fore plane body is used as a straightener for the surface to be finished. [Illustration: _Fig. 26._] ERRORS TO BE AVOIDED.--Never draw back the plane with the bit resting on the board. This simply wears out the tool, and if there should be any grit on the board it will be sure to ruin the bit. This applies particularly to the jack plane, but is bad practice with the others as well. A work bench is a receptacle for all kinds of dirt. Provide a special ledge or shelf for the planes, and be sure to put each plane there immediately after using. THE GAGE.--A man, who professed to be a carpenter, once told me that he never used a gage because he could not make it run straight. A few moments' practice convinced him that he never knew how to hold it. The illustration shows how properly to hold it, and the reason why it should so be held follows. You will observe (Fig. 26) that the hand grasps the stem of the gage behind the cheekpiece, so that the thumb is free to press against the side of the stem to the front of the cheekpiece. HOLDING THE GAGE.--The hand serves to keep the cheekpiece against the board, while the thumb pushes the gage forward. The hand must not, under any circumstances, be used to move the gage along. In fact, it is not necessary for the fingers to be clasped around the gage stem, if the forefinger presses tightly against the cheekpiece, since the thumb performs all the operation of moving it along. Naturally, the hand grasps the tool in order to hold it down against the material, and to bring it back for a new cut. THE DRAW-KNIFE.--It is difficult for the apprentice to become accustomed to handle this useful tool. It is much more serviceable than a hatchet for trimming and paring work. In applying it to the wood always have the tool at an angle with the board, so as to make a slicing cut. This is specially desirable in working close to a line, otherwise there is a liability of cutting over it. This knife requires a firm grasp--firmness of hold is more important than strength in using. The flat side is used wholly for straight edges, and the beveled side for concave surfaces. It is the intermediate tool between the hatchet and the plane, as it has the characteristics of both those tools. It is an ugly, dangerous tool, more to be feared when lying around than when in use. Put it religiously on a rack which protects the entire cutting edge. _Keep it off the bench._ CHAPTER IV HOW TO DESIGN ARTICLES FUNDAMENTALS OF DESIGNING.--A great deal of the pleasure in making articles consists in creative work. This means, not that you shall design some entirely new article, but that its general form, or arrangement of parts, shall have some new or striking feature. A new design in any art does not require a change in all its parts. It is sufficient that there shall be an improvement, either in some particular point, as a matter of utility, or some change in an artistic direction. A manufacturer in putting out a new chair, or a plow, or an automobile, adds some striking characteristic. This becomes his talking point in selling the article. THE COMMERCIAL INSTINCT.--It is not enough that the boy should learn to make things correctly, and as a matter of pastime and pleasure. The commercial instinct is, after all, the great incentive, and should be given due consideration. It would be impossible, in a book of this kind, to do more than to give the fundamental principles necessary in designing, and to direct the mind solely to essentials, leaving the individual to build up for himself. FIRST REQUIREMENTS FOR DESIGNING.--First, then, let us see what is necessary to do when you intend to set about making an article. Suppose we fix our minds upon a table as the article selected. Three things are necessary to know: First, the use to which it is to be put; second, the dimensions; and, third, the material required. Assuming it to be the ordinary table, and the dimensions fixed, we may conclude to use soft pine, birch or poplar, because of ease in working. There are no regulation dimensions for tables, except as to height, which is generally uniform, and usually 30 inches. As to the length and width, you will be governed by the place where it is to be used. If the table top is to have dimensions, say, of 36" � 48", you may lay out the framework six inches less each way, thus giving you a top overhang of three inches, which is the usual practice. CONVENTIONAL STYLES.--Now, if you wish to depart from the conventional style of making a table you may make variations in the design. For instance, the Chippendale style means slender legs and thin top. It involves some fanciful designs in the curved outlines of the top, and in the crook of the legs. Or if, on the other hand, the Mission type is preferred, the overhang of the top is very narrow; the legs are straight and heavy, and of even size from top to bottom; and the table top is thick and nearly as broad as it is long. Such furniture has the appearance of massiveness; it is easily made and most serviceable. MISSION STYLE.--The Mission style of architecture also lends itself to the making of chairs and other articles of furniture. A chair is, probably, the most difficult piece of household furniture to make, because strength is required. In this type soft wood may be used, as the large legs and back pieces are easily provided with mortises and tenons, affording great rigidity when completed. In designing, therefore, you may see how the material itself becomes an important factor. CABINETS.--In the making of cabinets, sideboards, dressers and like articles, the ingenious boy will find a wonderful field for designing ability, because in these articles fancy alone dictates the sizes and the dimensions of the parts. Not so with chairs and tables. The imagination plays an important part even in the making of drawers, to say nothing of placing them with an eye to convenience and artistic effect. HARMONY OF PARTS.--But one thing should be observed in the making of furniture, namely, harmony between the parts. For instance, a table with thin legs and a thick top gives the appearance of a top-heavy structure; or the wrong use of two different styles is bad from an artistic standpoint; moreover, it is the height of refined education if, in the use of contrasting woods, they are properly blended to form a harmonious whole. HARMONIZING WOOD.--Imagine a chiffonier with the base of dark wood, like walnut, and the top of pine or maple, or a like light-colored wood. On the other hand, both walnut and maple, for instance, may be used in the same article, if they are interspersed throughout the entire article. The body may be made of dark wood and trimmed throughout with a light wood to produce a fine effect. CHAPTER V HOW WORK IS LAID OUT CONCRETE EXAMPLES OF WORK.--A concrete example of doing any work is more valuable than an abstract statement. For this purpose I shall direct the building of a common table with a drawer in it and show how the work is done in detail. For convenience let us adopt the Mission style, with a top 36" � 42" and the height 30". The legs should be 2" � 2" and the top 1", dressed. The material should be of hard wood with natural finish, or, what is better still, a soft wood, like birch, which may be stained a dark brown, as the Mission style is more effective in dark than in light woods. [Illustration: _Fig. 27._] FRAMEWORK.--As we now know the sizes, the first thing is to build the framework. The legs should be dressed square and smoothed down with the fore plane to make them perfectly straight. Now, lay out two mortises at the upper end of each leg. Follow the illustrations to see how this is done. LAYING OUT THE LEGS.--Fig. 27 shows a leg with square cross marks (A) at each end. These marks indicate the finished length of the leg. You will also see crosses on two sides. These indicate what is called the "work sides." The work sides are selected because they are the finest surfaces on the leg. [Illustration: _Fig. 28._] [Illustration: _Fig. 29._] THE LENGTH OF THE MORTISES.--Then take a small try square (Fig. 28) and add two cross lines (B, C) on each of the inner surfaces, the second line (B) one-half inch from the finish line (A), and the other line (C) seven inches down from the line (A). The side facing boards, hereafter described, are seven inches wide. When this has been done for all the legs, prepare your gage (Fig. 29) to make the mortise scribe, and, for convenience in illustrating, the leg is reversed. If the facing boards are 1" thick, and the tenons are intended to be 1/2" thick, the first scribe line (E) should be 1/2" from the work side, because the shoulder on the facing board projects out 1/4", and the outer surface of the facing board should not be flush with the outer surface of the leg. The second gage line (F) should be 1" from the work side. [Illustration: _Fig. 30._] THE MORTISES.--When the mortises have been made they will appear as shown in the enlarged cross section of the leg (Fig. 30), the total depth of each mortise being 1-1/2". The depth of this mortise determines for us the length of the tenons on the facing boards. THE FACING BOARDS.--These boards are each 1 inch thick and 7 inches wide. As the top of the table is 42 inches long, and we must provide an overhang, say of 2 inches, we will first take off 4 inches for the overhang and 4 inches for the legs, so that the length of two of the facing boards, from shoulder to shoulder, must be 34 inches; and the other two facing boards 28 inches. Then, as we must add 1-1/2 inches for each tenon, two of the boards will be 37 inches long and two of them 31 inches long. [Illustration: _Fig. 31._] [Illustration: _Fig. 32._] The illustration (Fig. 31) shows a board marked with the cross lines (B) at each end for the end of the tenons, or the extreme ends of the boards. THE TENONS.--Do not neglect first to select the work side and the working edge of the board. The outer surface and the upper edges are the sides to work from. The cheekpiece (A) of the gage must always rest against the working side. The cross marks (B, C) should be made with the point of a sharp knife, and before the small back saw is used on the cross-cuts the lines (B), which indicate the shoulders, should be scored with a sharp knife, as shown in Fig. 33. This furnishes a guide for the saw, and makes a neat finish for the shoulder. [Illustration: _Fig. 33._] [Illustration: _Fig. 34._] [Illusstration _Fig. 35._] TOOLS USED.--The back saw is used for cutting the tenon, and the end of the board appears as shown in the enlarged Fig. 34. Two things are now necessary to complete the tenons. On the upper or work edge of each board use the gage to mark off a half-inch slice, and then cut away the flat side of the tenon at the end, on its inner surface, so it will appear as shown in Fig. 35. [Illustration: _Fig. 36._] [Illustration: _Fig. 37._] CHAMFERED TENONS.--The object of these chamfered or beveled tenons is to permit the ends to approach each other closely within the mortise, as shown in the assembled parts (Fig. 36). THE FRAME ASSEMBLED.--The frame is now ready to assemble, but before doing so a drawer opening and supports should be made. The ends of the supports may be mortised into the side pieces or secured by means of gains. Mortises and tenons are better. THE DRAWER SUPPORTS.--Take one of the side-facing boards (Fig. 37) and cut a rectangular opening in it. This opening should be 4 inches wide and 18 inches long, so placed that there is 1 inch of stock at the upper margin and 2 inches of stock at the lower margin of the board. At each lower corner make a mortise (A), so that one side of the mortise is on a line with the margin of the opening, and so that it extends a half inch past the vertical margin of the opening. [Illustration: _Fig. 38._] You can easily cut a gain (B) in a strip, or, as in Fig. 38, you may use two strips, one (C) an inch wide and a half inch thick, and on this nail a strip (D) along one margin. This forms the guide and rest for the drawer. At the upper margin of the opening is a rebate or gain (E) at each corner, extending down to the top line of the drawer opening, into which are fitted the ends of the upper cross guides. THE TABLE FRAME.--When the entire table frame is assembled it will have the appearance shown in Fig. 39, and it is now ready for the top. THE TOP.--The top should be made of three boards, either tongued and grooved, or doweled and glued together. In order to give a massive appearance, and also to prevent the end grain of the boards from being exposed, beveled strips may be used to encase the edges. These marginal cleats are 3/4 inch thick and 2 inches wide, and joined by beveled ends at the corners, as shown in Fig. 40. [Illustration: _Fig. 39._] THE DRAWER.--The drawer (Fig. 41) shown in cross section, has its front (A) provided with an overlapping flange (B). It is not our object in this chapter to show how each particular article is made, but simply to point out the underlying principles, and to illustrate how the fastening elements, the tenons and mortises, are formed, so that the boy will know the proper steps in their natural order. [Illustration: _Fig. 40._] HOW ANY STRUCTURE IS BUILT UP.--It should be observed that each structure, however small, is usually built from the base up. Just the same as the more pretentious buildings are erected: First, the sill, then the floor supports, then the posts and top plates, with their connecting girders, and, finally, the roof. The chapter on House Building will give more detailed illustrations of large structures, and how they are framed and braced. At this point we are more concerned in knowing how to proceed in order to lay out the simple structural details, and if one subject of this kind is fully mastered the complicated character of the article will not be difficult to master. OBSERVATIONS ABOUT A BOX.--As simple a little article as a box frequently becomes a burden to a beginner. Try it. Simply keep in mind one thing; each box has six sides. Now, suppose you want a box with six equal sides--that is, a cubical form--it is necessary to make only three pairs of sides; two for the ends, two for the sides and two for the top and bottom. Each set has dimensions different from the other sets. Both pieces of the set, representing the ends, are square; the side pieces are of the same width as the end pieces, and slightly longer; and the top and bottom are longer and wider than the end pieces. [Illustration: _Fig. 41._] A box equal in all its dimensions may be made out of six boards, properly cut. Make an attempt in order to see if you can get the right dimensions. JOINTS.--For joining together boards at right angles to each other, such as box corners, drawers and like articles, tenons and mortises should never be resorted to. In order to make fine work the joints should be made by means of dovetails, rabbets or rebates, or by beveling or mitering the ends. BEVELING AND MITERING.--There is a difference in the terms "beveling" and "mitering," as used in the art. In Fig. 42 the joint A is _beveled_, and in Fig. 43 the joint B is _mitered_, the difference being that a bevel is applied to an angle joint like a box corner, while a miter has reference to a joint such as is illustrated in Fig. 43, such as the corner of a picture frame. [Illustration: _Fig. 42._] [Illustration: _Fig. 43._] PROPER TERMS.--It is the application of the correct terms to things that lays the foundation for accurate thinking and proper expressions in describing work. A wise man once said that the basis of true science consists in correct definitions. PICTURE FRAMES.--In picture frames the mitered corners may have a saw kerf (C) cut across the corners, as shown in Fig. 44, and a thin blade of hard wood driven in, the whole being glued together. DOVETAIL JOINTS.--It is in the laying out of the more complicated dovetail joints that the highest skill is required, because exactness is of more importance in this work than in any other article in joinery. In order to do this work accurately follow out the examples given, and you will soon be able to make a beautiful dovetail corner, and do it quickly. [Illustration: _Fig. 44._] PREPARING A BOX JOINT.--In order to match a box joint for the inner end of a table drawer, the first step is to select two work sides. One work side will be the edge of the board, and the other the side surface of the board, and on those surfaces we will put crosses, as heretofore suggested. [Illustration: _Fig. 45._] [Illustration: _Fig. 46._] [Illustration: _Fig. 47._] FIRST STEPS.--Now lap together the inner surfaces of these boards (Y, Z), so the ends are toward you, as shown in Fig. 45. Then, after measuring the thickness of the boards to be joined (the thinnest, if they are of different thicknesses), set your compasses, or dividers, for 1/4 inch, providing the boards are 1/2 inch thick, and, commencing at the work edge of the board, step off and point, as at A, the whole width of the board, and with a square make the two cross marks (B), using the two first compass points (A), then skipping one, using the next two, and so on. [Illustration: _Fig. 48._] [Illustration: _Fig. 49._] [Illustration: _Fig. 50._] When this is done, turn up the board Z (Fig. 46), so that it is at right angles to the board Y, and so the outer surface of the board Z is flush with the end of the board X, and with a sharp knife point extend the lines B along with the grain of the wood on board Z, up to the cross mark C. This cross mark should have been previously made and is located as far from the end of the board Z as the thickness of the board Y. We now have the marks for the outer surface of the board Z, and the end marks of board Y. For the purpose of getting the angles of the end of the board Z and the outer side of board Y, a cross line (D, Fig. 47) is drawn across the board X near the end, this line being as far from the end as the thickness of the board Z, and a vertical line (E) is drawn midway between the two first cross marks (A). Now, with your compass, which, in the meantime, has not been changed, make a mark (F), and draw down the line (G), which will give you the working angle at which you may set the bevel gage. Then draw down an angle from each alternate cross line (A), and turn the bevel and draw down the lines (H). These lines should all be produced on the opposite side of the board, so as to assure accuracy, and to this end the edges of the board also should be scribed. CUTTING OUT THE SPACES.--In cutting out the intervening spaces, which should be done with a sharp chisel, care should be observed not to cut over the shoulder lines. To prevent mistakes you should put some distinctive mark on each part to be cut away. In this instance E, H show the parts to be removed, and in Fig. 48 two of the cutaway portions are indicated. When the end of the board Z is turned up (Fig. 49), it has merely the longitudinal parallel lines B. The bevel square may now be used in the same manner as on the side of the board Y, and the fitting angles will then be accurately true. This is shown in Fig. 50, in which, also, two of the cutaway parts are removed. TOOLS USED IN LAYING OUT TENONS AND MORTISES.--A sharp-pointed knife must always be used for making all marks. Never employ an awl for this work, as the fiber of the wood will be torn up by it. A small try square should always be used (not the large iron square), and this with a sharp-pointed compass and bevel square will enable you to turn out a satisfactory piece of work. The foregoing examples, carefully studied, will enable you to gather the principles involved in laying off any work. If you can once make a presentable box joint, so that all the dovetails will accurately fit together, you will have accomplished one of the most difficult phases of the work, and it is an exercise which will amply repay you, because you will learn to appreciate what accuracy means. CHAPTER VI THE USES OF THE COMPASS AND THE SQUARE THE SQUARE.--The square is, probably, the oldest of all tools, and that, together with the compass, or dividers, with which the square is always associated, has constituted the craftsman's emblem from the earliest historical times. So far as we now know, the plain flat form, which has at least one right angle and two or more straight edges, was the only form of square used by the workman. But modern uses, and the development of joinery and cabinet making, as well as the more advanced forms of machinery practice, necessitated new structural forms in the square, so that the bevel square, in which there is an adjustable blade set in a handle, was found necessary. THE TRY SQUARE.--In the use of the ordinary large metal square it is necessary to lay the short limb of the square on the face of the work, and the long limb must, therefore, rest against the work side or edge of the timber, so that the scribing edge of the short limb does not rest flat against the work. As such a tool is defective in work requiring accuracy, it brought into existence what is called the try square, which has a rectangular handle, usually of wood, into which is fitted at one end a metal blade, which is at right angles to the edge of the handle. The handle, therefore, always serves as a guide for the blade in scribing work, because it lies flat down on the work. THE T-SQUARE is another modification of the try square, its principal use being for draughting purposes. THE COMPASS.--The compass is one of the original carpenter's tools. The difference between _compass_ and _dividers_ is that compasses have adjustable pen or pencil points, whereas dividers are without adjustable points. Modern work has brought refinements in the character of the compass and dividers, so that we now have the bow-compass, which is, usually, a small tool, one leg of which carries a pen or pencil point, the two legs being secured together, usually, by a spring bow, or by a hinged joint with a spring attachment. PROPORTIONAL DIVIDERS.--A useful tool is called the proportional dividers, the legs of which are hinged together intermediate the ends, so that the pivotal joint is adjustable. By means of this tool the scale of work may be changed, although its widest field of usefulness is work laid off on a scale which you intend to reduce or enlarge proportionally. DETERMINING ANGLES.--Now, in order to lay out work the boy should know quickly and accurately how to determine various angles used or required in his work. The quickest way in which to learn this is to become familiar with the degree in its various relations. [Illustration: _Fig. 51._] DEFINITION OF DEGREE.--A degree is not a measure, as we would designate a foot or a pound to determine distance or quantity. It is used to denote a division, space, interval or position. To illustrate, look at the circle, Fig. 51. The four cardinal points are formed by the cross lines (A, B), and in each one of the quadrants thus formed the circle is divided into 90 degrees. Look at the radial lines (C, D), and you will find that the distance between these lines is different along the curved line (E) than along the curved line (F). The degree is, therefore, to indicate only the space, division or interval in the circle. THE MOST IMPORTANT ANGLE.--Most important for one to know at a glance is that of 45 degrees, because the one can the more readily calculate the other degrees, approximately, by having 45 degrees once fixed in the mind, and impressed on the visual image. With a square and a compass it is a comparatively easy matter accurately to step off 45 degrees, as it is the line C, midway between A and B, and the other degrees may be calculated from the line C and the cardinal lines A or B. DEGREES WITHOUT A COMPASS.--But in the absence of a compass and when you do not wish to step off a circle, you will in such case lay down the square, and mark off at the outer margin of the limbs two equal dimensions. Suppose we take 2 inches on each limb of the square. The angle thus formed by the angle square blade is 45 degrees. To find 30 degrees allow the blade of the angle square to run from 2 inches on one limb to 3-1/2 inches on the other limb, and it will be found that for 15 degrees the blade runs from 2 inches on one limb to 7-1/2 inches on the other limb. It would be well to fix firmly these three points, at least, in your mind, as they will be of the utmost value to you. It is a comparatively easy matter now to find 10 degrees or 25 degrees, or any intermediate line. WHAT DEGREES ARE CALCULATED FROM.--The question that now arises is what line one may use from which to calculate degrees, or at what point in the circle zero is placed. Degrees may be calculated either from the horizontal or from the vertical line. Examine Fig. 53. The working margin indicated by the cross mark is your base line, and in specifying an angle you calculate it from the work edge. Thus, the line A indicates an angle of 30 degrees. The dotted line is 45 degrees. [Illustration: _Fig. 52._] [Illustration: _Fig. 53._] [Illustration: _Fig. 54._] THE DIVIDERS.--The dividers are used not only for scribing circles, but also for stepping and dividing spaces equally. There is a knack in the use of the dividers, where accuracy is wanted, and where the surface is of wood. Unless the utmost care is observed, the spaces will be unequal, for the reason that the point of the dividers will sink more deeply into the wood at some places than at others, due to the uneven texture of the wood grain. It will be better to make a line lengthwise, and a cross line (A) for starting (see Fig. 54). You may then insert one point of the dividers at the initial mark (B), and describe a small arc (C). Then move the dividers over to the intersection of the arc (C) on the line, and make the next mark, and so on. Some useful hints along this same line will be found under the chapter on Drawing, which should be carefully studied. CHAPTER VII HOW THE DIFFERENT STRUCTURAL PARTS ARE DESIGNATED THE RIGHT NAME FOR EVERYTHING.--Always make it a point to apply the right term to each article or portion of a structure. Your explanation, to those who do know the proper technical terms, will render much easier a thorough understanding; and to those who do not know, your language will be in the nature of an education. PROPER DESIGNATIONS.--Every part in mechanism, every point, curve and angle has its peculiar designation. A knowledge of terms is an indication of thoroughness in education, and, as heretofore stated, becomes really the basis of art, as well as of the sciences. When you wish to impart information to another you must do it in terms understood by both. Furthermore, and for this very reason, you should study to find out how to explain or to define the terms. You may have a mental picture of the structure in your mind, but when asked to explain it you are lost. LEARNING MECHANICAL FORMS.--Suppose, for example, we take the words _segment_ and _sector_. Without a thorough understanding in your own mind you are likely to confuse these terms by taking one for the other. But let us assume you are to be called upon to explain a sector to some one who has no idea of terms and their definitions. How would you describe it? While it is true it is wedge-shaped, you will see by examining the drawing that it is not like a wedge. The sector has two sides running from a point like a wedge, but the large end of the sector is curved. If you were called upon to define a segment you might say it had one straight line and one curve, but this would not define it very lucidly. Therefore, in going over the designations given, not only fix in your mind the particular form, but try to remember some particular manner in which you can clearly express the form, the shape or the relation of the parts. For your guidance, therefore, I have given, as far as possible, simple figures to aid you in becoming acquainted with structures and their designations, without repeating the more simple forms which I have used in the preceding chapters. [Illustration: _Fig. 55.-Fig. 65._] 55. _Arcade._--A series of arches with the columns or piers which support them, the spandrels above, and other parts. 56. _Arch._--A curved member made up, usually, of separate wedge-shaped solids, A. K, Keystone; S, Springers; C, Chord, or span. 57. _Buttress._--A projecting mass of masonry. A, used for resisting the thrust of an arch, or for ornamentation; B, a flying buttress. 58. _Chamfer._--The surface A formed by cutting away the arris or angle formed by two faces, B, C, of material. 59. _Cotter or Cotter Pin._--A pin, A, either flat, square or round, driven through a projecting tongue to hold it in position. 60. _Crenelated._--A form of molding indented or notched, either regularly or irregularly. 61. _Crosses._--1. Latin cross, in the Church of Rome carried before Bishops. 2. Double cross, carried before Cardinals and Bishops. 3. Triple or Papal cross. 4. St. Andrew's and St. Peter's cross. 5. Maltese cross. 6. St. Anthony or Egyptian cross. 7. Cross of Jerusalem. 8. A cross patté or fermé (head or first). 9. A cross patonce (that is, growing larger at the ends). 10. Greek cross. 62. _Curb Roof._--A roof having a double slope, or composed on each side of two parts which have unequal inclinations; a gambrel roof. 63. _Cupola._--So called on account of its resemblance to a cup. A roof having a rounded form. When on a large scale it is called a dome. _Crown Post._--See _King Post_. 64. _Console._--A bracket with a projection not more than half its height. 65. _Corbels._--A mass of brackets to support a shelf or structure. Largely employed in Gothic architecture. [Illustration: _Fig. 66.-Fig. 79._] 66. _Dormer._--A window pierced in a roof and so set as to be vertical, while the roof slopes away from it. Also called a _Gablet_. 67. _Dowel._--A pin or stud in one block, or body, designed to engage with holes in another body to hold them together in alignment. 68. _Drip._--That part of a cornice or sill course A, or other horizontal member which projects beyond the rest, so as to divert water. 69. _Detents._--Recesses to lock or to serve as a stop or holding place. 70. _Extrados._--The exterior curve of an arch, especially the upper curved face A. B is the _Intrados_ or _Soffit_. 71. _Engrailed._--Indented with small concave curves, as the edge of a bordure, bend, or the like. 72. _Facet._--The narrow plain surface, as A, between the fluting of a column. 73. _Fret, Fretwork._--Ornamental work consisting of small fillets, or slats, intersecting each other or bent at right angles. Openwork in relief, when elaborated and minute in all its parts. Hence any minute play of light and shade. A, Japanese fretwork. B, Green fret. 74. _Frontal_, also called _Pediment_.--The triangular space, A, above a door or window. 75. _Frustums._--That part of a solid next the base, formed by cutting off the top; or the part of any solid, as of a cone, pyramid, etc., between two planes, which may either be parallel or inclined to each other. 76. _Fylfat._--A rebated cross used as a secret emblem and worn as an ornament. It is also called _Gammadium_, and more commonly known as _Swastika_. 77. _Gambrel Roof._--A curb roof having the same section in all its parts, with a lower, steeper and longer part. See _Curb Roof_ and distinguish difference. 78. _Gargoyle._--A spout projecting from the roof gutter of a building, often carved grotesquely. 79. _Gudgeon._--A wooden shaft, A, with a socket, B, into which is fitted a casting, C. The casting has a _gudgeon_, D. [Illustration: _Fig. 80.-Fig. 93._] 80. _Guilloche._--An ornament in the form of two or more bands or strings twisted together or over or through each other. 81. _Half Timbered._--Constructed of a timber frame, having the spaces filled in with masonry. 82. _Hammer Beam._--A member of one description of roof truss, called hammer-beam truss, which is so framed as not to have a tie beam at the top of the wall. A is the _hammer beam_, and C the pendant post. 83. _Haunches._--The parts A, A, on each side of the crown of an arch. Each haunch is from one-half to two-thirds of the half arch. 84. _Header._--A piece of timber, A, fitted between two trimmers, B, B, to hold the ends of the tail beams, C, C. 85. _Hip Roof._--The external angle formed by the meeting of two sloping sides or skirts of a roof which have their wall plates running in different directions. 86. _Hood Molding._--A projecting molding over the head of an arch, as at A, forming the outer-most member of the archivolt. 87. _Inclave._--The border, or borders, having a series of dovetails. One variation of molding or ornamentation. 88. _Interlacing Arch._--Arches, usually circular, so constructed that their archivolts, A, intersect and seem to be interlaced. 89. _Invected._--Having a border or outline composed of semicircles or arches, with the convexity outward. The opposite of engrailed. 90. _Inverted Arch._--An arch placed with the crown downward; used in foundation work. 91. _Keystone._--The central or topmost stone, A, of an arch, sometimes decorated with a carving. 92. _King Post._--A member, A, of a common form of truss for roofs. It is strictly a tie intended to prevent the sagging of the tie beam, B, in the middle. If there are struts, C, supporting the rafters, D, they extend down to the foot of the _King Post_. 93. _Label._--The name given to the projecting molding, A, around the top of the door opening. A form of mediæval architecture. [Illustration: _Fig. 94.-Fig. 104._] 94. _Louver._--The sloping boards, A, set to shed rain water outward in an opening of a frame, as in belfry windows. 95. _Lintel._--A horizontal member. A spanning or opening of a frame, and designed to carry the wall above it. 96. _Lug._--A. projecting piece, as A, to which anything is attached, or against which another part, like B, is held. 97. _M-Roof._--A kind of roof formed by the junction of two common roofs with a valley between them, so the section resembles the letter M. 98. _Mansard Roof._--A hipped curb roof, that is, a roof having on all sides two slopes, the lower one, A, being steeper than the upper portion or deck. 99. _Newel Post._--The upright post at the foot of a stairway, to which the railing is attached. 100. _Parquetry._--A species of joinery or cabinet work, consisting of an inlay of geometric or other patterns, generally of different colored woods, used particularly for floors. 101. _Peen._ also _Pein._--The round, _round_-edged or hemispherical end, as at A, of a hammer. 102. _Pendant._--A hanging ornament on roofs, ceilings, etc., and much used in the later styles of Gothic architecture where it is of stone. Imitated largely in wood and plaster work. 103. _Pentastyle._--A pillar. A portico having five pillars, A, is called the _Pentastyle_ in temples of classical construction. 104. _Pedestal._--An upright architectural member, A, right-angled in plan, constructionally a pier, but resembling a column, having a capital, shaft and base to agree with the columns in the structure. [Illustration: _Fig. 105.-Fig. 117._] 105. _Pintle._--An upright pivot pin, or the pin of a hinge; A represents the _pintle_ of a rudder. 106. _Portico._--A colonnade or covered structure, especially in classical style, of architecture, and usually at the entrance of a building. 107. _Plate._--A horizontal timber, A, used as a top or header for supporting timbers, roofs and the like. 108. _Queen Post._--One of two suspending posts in a roof truss, or other framed truss of simple form. Compare with _King Post._ A, B, tie beam; C, C, queen posts; D, straining piece; E, principal rafter; F, rafter. 109. _Quirk Molding._--A small channel, deeply recessed, in proportion to its width, used to insulate and give relief to a convex rounded molding. An excellent corner post for furniture. 110. _Re-entering._--The figure shows an irregular polygon (that is, many-sided figure) and is a re-entering polygon. The recess A is a re-entering angle. 111. _Rafter._--Originally any rough and heavy piece of timber, but in modern carpentry used to designate the main roof support, as at A. See _Queen Post_. 112. _Scarfing._--Cutting timber at an angle along its length, as the line A. Scarfing joints are variously made. The overlapping joints may be straight or recessed and provided with a key block B. When fitted together they are securely held by plates and bolts. 113. _Scotia Molding._--A sunken molding in the base of a pillar, so called from the dark shadow which it casts. 114. _Sill._--In carpentry the base piece, or pieces, A, on which the posts of a structure are set. 115. _Skew-Back._--The course of masonry, such as a stone, A, with an inclined face, which forms the abutment for the voussoirs, B, or wedge-shaped stones comprising the arch. 116. _Spandrel._--The irregular, triangular space, A, between the curve of an arch and the enclosing right angle. 117. _Strut._--In general, any piece of a frame, such as a timber A, or a brace B, which resists pressure or thrust in the direction of its length. [Illustration: _Fig. 118.-Fig. 123._] 118. _Stud, Studding._--The vertical timber or scantling, A, which is one of the small uprights of a building to which the boarding or plastering lath are nailed. 119. _Stile._--The main uprights of a door, as A, A; B, B, B, rails; C, C, mullions; D, D, panels. _Tie Beam._--See _Queen Post_. 120. _Trammel._--A very useful tool for drawing ellipses. It comprises a cross, A, with grooves and a bar, B, with pins, C, attached to sliding blocks in the grooves, and a pen or stylus, D, at the projecting end of the bar to scribe the ellipse. 121. _Turret._--A little tower, frequently only an ornamental structure at one of the angles of a larger structure. 122. _Transom._--A horizontal cross-bar, A, above a door or window or between a door and a window above it. Transom is the horizontal member, and if there is a vertical, like the dotted line B, it is called a _Mullion_. See _Stile_. 123. _Valley Roof._--A place of meeting of two slopes of a roof which have their sides running in different directions and formed on the plan of a re-entrant angle. CHAPTER VIII DRAWING AND ITS UTILITY A knowledge of drawing, at least so far as the fundamentals are concerned, is of great service to the beginner. All work, after being conceived in the brain, should be transferred to paper. A habit of this kind becomes a pleasure, and, if carried out persistently, will prove a source of profit. The boy with a bow pen can easily draw circles, and with a drawing or ruling pen he can make straight lines. REPRESENTING OBJECTS.--But let him try to represent some object, and the pens become useless. There is a vast difference in the use of drawing tools and free-hand drawing. While the boy who is able to execute free-hand sketches may become the better artist, still that art would not be of much service to him as a carpenter. First, because the use of tools gives precision, and this is necessary to the builder; and, second, because the artist deals wholly with perspectives, whereas the builder must execute from plane surfaces or elevations. FORMING LINES AND SHADOWS.--It is not my intention to furnish a complete treatise on this subject, but to do two things, one of which will be to show, among other features, how simple lines form objects; how shading becomes an effective aid; how proportions are formed; and, second, how to make irregular forms, and how they may readily be executed so that the boy may be able to grasp the ideas for all shapes and structural devices. [Illustration: _Fig. 125._] [Illustration: _Fig. 126._] [Illustration: _Fig. 127._] ANALYSIS OF LINE SHADING.--In the demonstration of this work I shall give an analysis of the simple lines formed, showing the terms used to designate the lines, curves, and formations, so that when any work is laid out the beginner will be able, with this glossary before him, to describe architecturally, as well as mathematically, the angles and curves with which he is working. HOW TO CHARACTERIZE SURFACE.--Suppose we commence simply with straight lines. How shall we determine the character of the surface of the material between the two straight lines shown in Fig. 125? Is it flat, rounded, or concaved? Let us see how we may treat the surface by simple lines so as to indicate the configuration. [Illustration: _Fig. 128._] [Illustration: _Fig. 129._] [Illustration: _Fig. 130._] [Illustration: _Fig. 131._] CONCAVE SURFACES.--In Fig. 126 the shading lines commence at the upper margin, and are heaviest there, the lines gradually growing thinner and farther apart. CONVEX SURFACES.--In Fig. 127 the shading is very light along the upper margin, and heavy at the lower margin. The first shaded figure, therefore, represents a concaved surface, and the second figure a convex surface. But why? Simply for the reason that in drawings, as well as in nature, light is projected downwardly, hence when a beam of light moves past the margin of an object, the contrast at the upper part, where the light is most intense, is strongest. The shading of the S-shaped surface (Fig. 128) is a compound of Figs. 126 and 127. [Illustration: _Fig. 132._] SHADOWS FROM A SOLID BODY.--We can understand this better by examining Fig. 129, which shows a vertical board, and a beam of light (A) passing downwardly beyond the upper margin of the board. Under these conditions the upper margin of the board appears darker to the vision, by contrast, than the lower part. It should also be understood that, in general, the nearer the object the lighter it is, so that as the upper edge of the board is farthest from the eye the heavy shading there will at least give the appearance of distance to that edge. But suppose that instead of having the surface of the board flat, it should be concaved, as in Fig. 130, it is obvious that the hollow, or the concaved, portion of the board must intensify the shadows or the darkness at the upper edge. This explains why the heavy shading in Fig. 126 is at that upper margin. FLAT EFFECTS.--If the board is flat it may be shaded, as shown in Fig. 131, in which the lines are all of the same thickness, and are spaced farther and farther apart at regularly increasing intervals. [Illustration: _Fig. 133._] [Illustration: _Fig. 134._] THE DIRECTION OF LIGHT.--Now, in drawing, we must observe another thing. Not only does the light always come from above, but it comes also from the left side. I show in Fig. 132 two squares, one within the other. All the lines are of the same thickness. Can you determine by means of such a drawing what the inner square represents? Is it a block, or raised surface, or is it a depression? RAISED SURFACES.--Fig. 133 shows it in the form of a block, simply by thickening the lower and the right-hand lines. DEPRESSED SURFACES.--If, by chance, you should make the upper and the left-hand lines heavy, as in Fig. 134, it would, undoubtedly, appear depressed, and would need no further explanation. FULL SHADING,--But, in order to furnish an additional example of the effect of shading, suppose we shade the surface of the large square, as shown in Fig. 135, and you will at once see that not only is the effect emphasized, but it all the more clearly expresses what you want to show. In like manner, in Fig. 136, we shade only the space within the inner square, and it is only too obvious how shadows give us surface conformation. [Illustration: _Fig. 135._] [Illustration: _Fig. 136._] ILLUSTRATING CUBE SHADING.--In Fig. 137 I show merely nine lines joined together, all lines being of equal thickness. As thus drawn it may represent, for instance, a cube, or it may show simply a square base (A) with two sides (B, B) of equal dimensions. SHADING EFFECTS.--Now, to examine it properly so as to observe what the draughtsman wishes to express, look at Fig. 138, in which the three diverging lines (A, B, C) are increased in thickness, and the cube appears plainly. On the other hand, in Fig. 139, the thickening of the lines (D, E, F) shows an entirely different structure. [Illustration: _Fig. 137._] [Illustration: _Fig. 138._] [Illustration: _Fig. 139._] It must be remembered, therefore, that to show raised surfaces the general direction is to shade heavily the lower horizontal and the right vertical lines. (See Fig. 133.) HEAVY LINES.--But there is an exception to this rule. See two examples (Fig. 140). Here two parallel lines appear close together to form the edge nearest the eye. In such cases the second, or upper, line is heaviest. On vertical lines, as in Fig. 141, the second line from the right is heaviest. These examples show plain geometrical lines, and those from Figs. 138 to 141, inclusive, are in perspective. [Illustration: _Fig. 140._] [Illustration: _Fig. 141._] PERSPECTIVE.--A perspective is a most deceptive figure, and a cube, for instance, may be drawn so that the various lines will differ in length, and also be equidistant from each other. Or all the lines may be of the same length and have the distances between them vary. Supposing we have two cubes, one located above the other, separated, say, two feet or more from each other. It is obvious that the lines of the two cubes will not be the same to a camera, because, if they were photographed, they would appear exactly as they are, so far as their positions are concerned, and not as they appear. But the cubes do appear to the eye as having six equal sides. The camera shows that they do not have six equal sides so far as measurement is concerned. You will see, therefore, that the position of the eye, relative to the cube, is what determines the angle, or $the relative$ angles of all the lines. [Illustration: _Fig. 142._] [Illustration: _Fig. 143._] A TRUE PERSPECTIVE OF A CUBE.--Fig. 142 shows a true perspective--that is, it is true from the measurement standpoint. It is what is called an _isometrical_ view, or a figure in which all the lines not only are of equal length, but the parallel lines are all spaced apart the same distances from each other. ISOMETRIC CUBE.--I enclose this cube within a circle, as in Fig. 143. To form this cube the circle (A) is drawn and bisected with a vertical line (B). This forms the starting point for stepping off the six points (C) in the circle, using the dividers without resetting, after you have made the circle. Then connect each of the points (C) by straight lines (D). These lines are called chords. From the center draw two lines (E) at an angle and one line (F) vertically. These are the radial lines. You will see from the foregoing that the chords (D) form the outline of the cube--or the lines farthest from the eye, and the radial lines (E, F) are the nearest to the eye. In this position we are looking at the block at a true diagonal--that is, from a corner at one side to the extreme corner on the opposite side. [Illustration: _Fig. 144._] Let us contrast this, and particularly Fig. 142, with the cube which is placed higher up, viewed from the same standpoint. FLATTENED PERSPECTIVE.--Fig. 144 shows the new perspective, in which the three vertical lines (A, A, A) are of equal length, and the six angularly disposed lines (B, C) are of equal length, but shorter than the lines A. The only change which has been made is to shorten the distance across the corner from D to D, but the vertical lines (A) are the same in length as the corresponding lines in Fig. 143. Notwithstanding this change the cubes in both figures appear to be of the same size, as, in fact, they really are. [Illustration: _Fig. 145._] In forming a perspective, therefore, it would be a good idea for the boy to have a cube of wood always at hand, which, if laid down on a horizontal support, alongside, or within range of the object to be drawn, will serve as a guide to the perspective. TECHNICAL DESIGNATIONS.--As all geometrical lines have designations, I have incorporated such figures as will be most serviceable to the boy, each figure being accompanied by its proper definition. [Illustration: _Fig. 146._] [Illustration: _Fig. 147._] Before passing to that subject I can better show some of the simple forms by means of suitable diagrams. Referring to Fig. 145, let us direct our attention to the body (G), formed by the line (D) across the circle. This body is called a segment. A chord (D) and a curve comprise a segment. SECTOR AND SEGMENT.--Now examine the shape of the body formed by two of the radial lines (E, E) and that part of the circle which extends from one radial line to the other. The body thus formed is a sector, and it is made by two radiating lines and a curved line. Learn to distinguish readily, in your mind, the difference between the two figures. TERMS OF ANGLES.--The relation of the lines to each other, the manner in which they are joined together, and their comparative angles, all have special terms and meanings. Thus, referring to the isometric cube, in Fig. 145, the angle formed at the center by the lines (B, E) is different from the angle formed at the margin by the lines (E, F). The angle formed by B, E is called an exterior angle; and that formed by E, F is an interior angle. If you will draw a line (G) from the center to the circle line, so it intersects it at C, the lines B, D, G form an equilateral or isosceles triangle; if you draw a chord (A) from C to C, the lines H, E, F will form an obtuse triangle, and B, F, H a right-angled triangle. CIRCLES AND CURVES.--Circles, and, in fact, all forms of curved work, are the most difficult for beginners. The simplest figure is the circle, which, if it represents a raised surface, is provided with a heavy line on the lower right-hand side, as in Fig. 146; but the proper artistic expression is shown in Fig. 147, in which the lower right-hand side is shaded in rings running only a part of the way around, gradually diminishing in length, and spaced farther and farther apart as you approach the center, thus giving the appearance of a sphere. [Illustration: _Fig. 148._] IRREGULAR CURVES.--But the irregular curves require the most care to form properly. Let us try first the elliptical curve (Fig. 148). The proper thing is, first, to draw a line (A), which is called the "major axis." On this axis we mark for our guidance two points (B, B). With the dividers find a point (C) exactly midway, and draw a cross line (D). This is called the "minor axis." If we choose to do so we may indicate two points (E, E) on the minor axis, which, in this case, for convenience, are so spaced that the distance along the major axis, between B, B, is twice the length across the minor axis (D), along E, E. Now find one-quarter of the distance from B to C, as at F, and with a compass pencil make a half circle (G). If, now, you will set the compass point on the center mark (C), and the pencil point of the compass on B, and measure along the minor axis (D) on both sides of the major axis, you will make two points, as at H. These points are your centers for scribing the long sides of the ellipse. Before proceeding to strike the curved lines (J), draw a diagonal line (K) from H to each marking point (F). Do this on both sides of the major axis, and produce these lines so they cross the curved lines (G). When you ink in your ellipse do not allow the circle pen to cross the lines (K), and you will have a mechanical ellipse. ELLIPSES AND OVALS.--It is not necessary to measure the centering points (F) at certain specified distances from the intersection of the horizontal and vertical lines. We may take any point along the major axis, as shown, for instance, in Fig. 149. Let B be this point, taken at random. Then describe the half circle (C). We may, also, arbitrarily, take any point, as, for instance, D on the minor axis E, and by drawing the diagonal lines (F) we find marks on the circle (C), which are the meeting lines for the large curve (H), with the small curve (C). In this case we have formed an ovate or an oval form. Experience will soon make perfect in following out these directions. FOCAL POINTS.--The focal point of a circle is its center, and is called the _focus_. But an ellipse has two focal points, called _foci_, represented by F, F in Fig. 148, and by B, B in Fig. 149. A _produced line_ is one which extends out beyond the marking point. Thus in Fig. 148 that part of the line K between F and G represents the produced portion of line K. [Illustration: _Fig. 149._] SPIRALS.--There is no more difficult figure to make with a bow or a circle pen than a spiral. In Fig. 150 a horizontal and a vertical line (A, B), respectively, are drawn, and at their intersection a small circle (C) is formed. This now provides for four centering points for the circle pen, on the two lines (A, B). Intermediate these points indicate a second set of marks halfway between the marks on the lines. If you will now set the point of the compass at, say, the mark 3, and the pencil point of the compass at D, and make a curved mark one-eighth of the way around, say, to the radial line (E), then put the point of the compass to 4, and extend the pencil point of the compass so it coincides with the curved line just drawn, and then again make another curve, one-eighth of a complete circle, and so on around the entire circle of marking points, successively, you will produce a spiral, which, although not absolutely accurate, is the nearest approach with a circle pen. To make this neatly requires care and patience. [Illustration: _Fig. 150._] PERPENDICULAR AND VERTICAL.--A few words now as to terms. The boy is often confused in determining the difference between _perpendicular_ and _vertical_. There is a pronounced difference. Vertical means up and down. It is on a line in the direction a ball takes when it falls straight toward the center of the earth. The word _perpendicular_, as usually employed in astronomy, means the same thing, but in geometry, or in drafting, or in its use in the arts it means that a perpendicular line is at right angles to some other line. Suppose you put a square upon a roof so that one leg of the square extends up and down on the roof, and the other leg projects outwardly from the roof. In this case the projecting leg is _perpendicular_ to the roof. Never use the word _vertical_ in this connection. SIGNS TO INDICATE MEASUREMENTS.--The small circle (°) is always used to designate _degree_. Thus 10° means ten degrees. Feet are indicated by the single mark '; and two closely allied marks " are for inches. Thus five feet ten inches should be written 5' 10". A large cross (�) indicates the word "by," and in expressing the term six feet by three feet two inches, it should be written 6' � 3'2". The foregoing figures give some of the fundamentals necessary to be acquired, and it may be said that if the boy will learn the principles involved in the drawings he will have no difficulty in producing intelligible work; but as this is not a treatise on drawing we cannot go into the more refined phases of the subject. DEFINITIONS.--The following figures show the various geometrical forms and their definitions: [Illustration: _Fig. 151.-Fig. 165._] 151. _Abscissa._--The point in a curve, A, which is referred to by certain lines, such as B, which extend out from an axis, X, or the ordinate line Z. 152. _Angle._--The inclosed space near the point where two lines meet. 153. _Apothegm._--The perpendicular line A from the center to one side of a regular polygon. It represents the radial line of a polygon the same as the radius represents half the diameter of a circle. 154. _Apsides_ or _Apsis_.--One of two points, A, A, of an orbit, oval or ellipse farthest from the axis, or the two small dots. 155. _Chord._--A right line, as A, uniting the extremities of the arc of a circle or a curve. 156. _Convolute_ (see also _Involute_).--Usually employed to designate a wave or folds in opposite directions. A double involute. 157. _Conic Section._--Having the form of or resembling a cone. Formed by cutting off a cone at any angle. See line A. 158. _Conoid._--Anything that has a form resembling that of a cone. 159. _Cycloid._--A curve, A, generated by a point, B, in the plane of a circle or wheel, C, when the wheel is rolled along a straight line. 160. _Ellipsoid._--A solid, all plane sections of which are ellipses or circles. 161. _Epicycloid._--A curve, A, traced by a point, B, in the circumference of a wheel, C, which rolls on the convex side of a fixed circle, D. 162. _Evolute._--A curve, A, from which another curve, like B, on each of the inner ends of the lines C is made. D is a spool, and the lines C represent a thread at different positions. The thread has a marker, E, so that when the thread is wound on the spool the marker E makes the evolute line A. 163. _Focus._--The center, A, of a circle; also one of the two centering points, B, of an ellipse or an oval. 164. _Gnome._--The space included between the boundary lines of two similar parallelograms, the one within the other, with an angle in common. 165. _Hyperbola._--A curve, A, formed by the section of a cone. If the cone is cut off vertically on the dotted line, A, the curve is a hyperbola. See _Parabola_. [Illustration: _Fig. 167.-Fig. 184._] 167. _Hypothenuse._--The side, A, of a right-angled triangle which is opposite to the right angle B, C. A, regular triangle; C, irregular triangle. 168. _Incidence._--The angle, A, which is the same angle as, for instance, a ray of light, B, which falls on a mirror, C. The line D is the perpendicular. 169. _Isosceles Triangle._--Having two sides or legs, A, A, that are equal. 170. _Parabola._--One of the conic sections formed by cutting of a cone so that the cut line, A, is not vertical. See _Hyperbola_ where the cut line is vertical. 171. _Parallelogram._--A right-lined quadrilateral figure, whose opposite sides, A, A, or B, B, are parallel and consequently equal. 172. _Pelecoid._--A figure, somewhat hatchet-shaped, bounded by a semicircle, A, and two inverted quadrants, and equal to a square, C. 173. _Polygons._--Many-sided and many with angles. 174. _Pyramid._--A solid structure generally with a square base and having its sides meeting in an apex or peak. The peak is the vertex. 175. _Quadrant._--The quarter of a circle or of the circumference of a circle. A horizontal line, A, and a vertical line, B, make the four quadrants, like C. 176. _Quadrilateral._--A plane figure having four sides, and consequently four angles. Any figure formed by four lines. 177. _Rhomb._--An equilateral parallelogram or a quadrilateral figure whose sides are equal and the opposite sides, B, B, parallel. 178. _Sector._--A part, A, of a circle formed by two radial lines, B, B, and bounded at the end by a curve. 179. _Segment._--A part, A, cut from a circle by a straight line, B. The straight line, B, is the chord or the _segmental line_. 180. _Sinusoid._--A wave-like form. It may be regular or irregular. 181. _Tangent._--A line, A, running out from the curve at right angles from a radial line. 182. _Tetrahedron._--A solid figure enclosed or bounded by four triangles, like A or B. A plain pyramid is bounded by five triangles. 183. _Vertex._--The meeting point, A, of two or more lines. 184. _Volute._--A spiral scroll, used largely in architecture, which forms one of the chief features of the Ionic capital. CHAPTER IX MOLDINGS, WITH PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS IN EMBELLISHING WORK MOLDINGS.--The use of moldings was early resorted to by the nations of antiquity, and we marvel to-day at many of the beautiful designs which the Ph[oe]necians, the Greeks and the Romans produced. If you analyze the lines used you will be surprised to learn how few are the designs which go to make up the wonderful columns, spires, minarets and domes which are represented in the various types of architecture. THE BASIS OF MOLDINGS.--Suppose we take the base type of moldings, and see how simple they are and then, by using these forms, try to build up or ornament some article of furniture, as an example of their utility. THE SIMPLEST MOLDING.--In Fig. 185 we show a molding of the most elementary character known, being simply in the form of a band (A) placed below the cap. Such a molding gives to the article on which it is placed three distinct lines, C, D and E. If you stop to consider you will note that the molding, while it may add to the strength of the article, is primarily of service because the lines and surfaces produce shadows, and therefore become valuable in an artistic sense. THE ASTRAGAL.--Fig. 186 shows the ankle-bone molding, technically called the _Astragal_. This form is round, and properly placed produces a good effect, as it throws the darkest shadow of any form of molding. [Illustration: _Fig. 185. Band._] [Illustration: _Fig. 186. Astragal or Ankle Bone._] [Illustration: _Fig. 187. Cavetto. Concave._] [Illustration: _Fig. 188. Ovolo. Quarter round._] THE CAVETTO.--Fig. 187 is the cavetto, or round type. Its proper use gives a delicate outline, but it is principally applied with some other form of molding. THE OVOLO.--Fig. 188, called the ovolo, is a quarter round molding with the lobe (A) projecting downwardly. It is distinguished from the astragal because it casts less of a shadow above and below. THE TORUS.--Fig. 189, known as the torus, is a modified form of the ovolo, but the lobe (A) projects out horizontally instead of downwardly. THE APOPHYGES (Pronounced apof-i-ges).--Fig. 190 is also called the _scape_, and is a concaved type of molding, being a hollowed curvature used on columns where its form causes a merging of the shaft with the fillet. [Illustration: _Fig. 189. Torus._] [Illustration: _Fig. 190. Apophyge._] [Illustration: _Fig. 191. Cymatium._] [Illustration: _Fig. 192. Ogee-Recta._] THE CYMATIUM.--Fig. 191 is the cymatium (derived from the word cyme), meaning wave-like. This form must be in two curves, one inwardly and one outwardly. THE OGEE.--Fig. 192, called the ogee, is the most useful of all moldings, for two reasons: First, it may have the concaved surface uppermost, in which form it is called ogee recta--that is, right side up; or it may be inverted, as in Fig. 193, with the concaved surface below, and is then called ogee reversa. Contrast these two views and you will note what a difference the mere inversion of the strip makes in the appearance. Second, because the ogee has in it, in a combined form, the outlines of nearly all the other types. The only advantage there is in using the other types is because you may thereby build up and space your work better than by using only one simple form. [Illustration: _Fig. 193. Ogee-Reversa._] [Illustration: _Fig. 194. Bead or Reedy._] You will notice that the ogee is somewhat like the cymatium, the difference being that the concaved part is not so pronounced as in the ogee, and the convexed portion bulges much further than in the ogee. It is capable of use with other moldings, and may be reversed with just as good effect as the ogee. THE REEDY.--Fig. 194 represents the reedy, or the bead--that is, it is made up of reeds. It is a type of molding which should not be used with any other pronounced type of molding. THE CASEMENT (Fig. 195).--In this we have a form of molding used almost exclusively at the base of structures, such as columns, porticoes and like work. [Illustration:_ Fig. 195. Casement._] Now, before proceeding to use these moldings, let us examine a Roman-Doric column, one of the most famous types of architecture produced. We shall see how the ancients combined moldings to produce grace, lights and shadows and artistic effects. THE ROMAN-DORIC COLUMN.--In Fig. 196 is shown a Roman-Doric column, in which the cymatium, the ovolo, cavetto, astragal and the ogee are used, together with the fillets, bases and caps, and it is interesting to study this because of its beautiful proportions. [Illustration: _Fig. 196._] The pedestal and base are equal in vertical dimensions to the entablature and capital. The entablature is but slightly narrower than the pedestal; and the length of the column is, approximately, four times the height of the pedestal. The base of the shaft, while larger diametrically than the capital, is really shorter measured vertically. There is a reason for this. The eye must travel a greater distance to reach the upper end of the shaft, and is also at a greater angle to that part of the shaft, hence it appears shorter, while it is in reality longer. For this reason a capital must be longer or taller than the base of a shaft, and it is also smaller in diameter. It will be well to study the column not only on account of the wonderful blending of the various forms of moldings, but because it will impress you with a sense of proportions, and give you an idea of how simple lines may be employed to great advantage in all your work. LESSONS FROM THE DORIC COLUMN.--As an example, suppose we take a plain cabinet, and endeavor to embellish it with the types of molding described, and you will see to what elaboration the operation may be carried. APPLYING MOLDING.--Let Fig. 197 represent the front, top and bottom of our cabinet; and the first thing we shall do is to add a base (A) and a cap (B). Now, commencing at the top, suppose we utilize the simplest form of molding, the band. This we may make of any desired width, as shown in Fig. 198. On this band we can apply the ogee type (Fig. 199) right side up. But for variation we may decide to use the ogee reversed, as in Fig. 200. This will afford us something else to think about and will call upon our powers of initiative in order to finish off the lower margin or edge of the ogee reversa. [Illustration: _Fig. 197._] [Illustration: _Fig. 198._] [Illustration: _Fig. 199._] If we take the ogee recta, as shown in Fig. 201, we may use the cavetto, or the ovolo (Fig. 202); but if we use the ogee reversa we must use a convex molding like the cavetto at one base, and a convex molding, like the torus or the ovolo, at the other base. In the latter (Fig. 202) four different moldings are used with the ogee as the principal structure. BASE EMBELLISHMENTS.--In like manner (Fig. 204) the base may have the casement type first attached in the corner, and then the ovolo, or the astragal added, as in Fig. 203. [Illustration: _Fig. 200._] [Illustration: _Fig. 201._] [Illustration: _Fig. 202._] STRAIGHT-FACED MOLDINGS.--Now let us carry the principle still further, and, instead of using various type of moldings, we will employ nothing but straight strips of wood. This treatment will soon indicate to you that the true mechanic or artisan is he who can take advantage of whatever he finds at hand. Let us take the same cabinet front (Fig. 205), and below the cap (A) place a narrow strip (B), the lower corner of which has been chamfered off, as at C. Below the strip B is a thinner strip (D), vertically disposed, and about two-thirds its width. The lower corner of this is also chamfered, as at F. To finish, apply a small strip (G) in the corner, and you have an embellished top that has the appearance, from a short distance, of being made up of molding. PLAIN MOLDED BASE.--The base may be treated in the same manner. The main strip (4) has its upper corner chamfered off, as at I, and on this is nailed a thin, narrow finishing strip (J). The upper part or molded top, in this case, has eleven distinct lines, and the base has six lines. By experimenting you may soon put together the most available kinds of molding strips. [Illustration: _Fig. 203._] [Illustration: _Fig. 204._] DIVERSIFIED USES.--For a great overhang you may use the cavetto, or the apophyges, and below that the astragal or the torus; and for the base the casement is the most serviceable molding, and it may be finished off with the ovolo or the cymatium. Pages of examples might be cited to show the variety and the diversification available with different types. SHADOWS CAST BY MOLDINGS.--Always bear in mind that a curved surface makes a blended shadow. A straight, flat or plain surface does not, and it is for that reason the concaved and the convexed surfaces, brought out by moldings, become so important. [Illustration: _Fig. 205._] A little study and experimenting will soon teach you how a convex, a concave or a flat surface, and a corner or corners should be arranged relatively to each other; how much one should project beyond the other; and what the proportional widths of the different molding bands should be. An entire volume would scarcely exhaust this subject. CHAPTER X AN ANALYSIS OF TENONING, MORTISING, RABBETING AND BEADING In the chapter on How Work is Laid Out, an example was given of the particular manner pursued in laying out mortises and tenons, and also dovetailed work. I deem it advisable to add some details to the subject, as well as to direct attention to some features which do not properly belong to the laying out of work. WHERE MORTISES SHOULD BE USED.--Most important of all is a general idea of places and conditions under which mortises should be resorted to. There are four ways in which different members may be secured to each other. First, by mortises and tenons; second, by a lap-and-butt; third, by scarfing; and, fourth, by tonguing and grooving. DEPTH OF MORTISES.--When a certain article is to be made, the first consideration is, how the joint or joints shall be made. The general rule for using the tenon and mortise is where two parts are joined wherein the grains of the two members run at right angles to each other, as in the following figure. RULE FOR MORTISES.--Fig. 206 shows such an example. You will notice this in doors particularly, as an example of work. [Illustration: _Fig. 206._] [Illustration: _Fig. 207._] The next consideration is, shall the mortises be cut entirely through the piece? This is answered by the query as to whether or not the end of the tenon will be exposed; and usually, if a smooth finish is required, the mortise should not go through the member. In a door, however, the tenons are exposed at the edges of the door, and are, therefore, seen, so that we must apply some other rule. The one universally adopted is, that where, as in a door stile, it is broad and comparatively thin, or where the member having the mortise in its edge is much thinner than its width, the mortise should go through from edge to edge. The reason for this lies in the inability to sink the mortises through the stile (A, Fig. 207) perfectly true, and usually the job is turned out something like the illustration shows. The side of the rail (B) must be straight with the side of the stile. If the work is done by machinery it results in accuracy unattainable in hand work. [Illustration: _Fig. 208._] TRUE MORTISE WORK.--The essense of good joining work is the ability to sink the chisel true with the side of the member. More uneven work is produced by haste than by inability. The tendency of all beginners is to strike the chisel too hard, in order the more quickly to get down to the bottom of the mortise. Hence, bad work follows. STEPS IN CUTTING MORTISES.--Examine Fig. 208, which, for convenience, gives six successive steps in making the mortise. The marks _a_, _b_ designate the limits, or the length, of the mortise. The chisel (C) is not started at the marking line (A), but at least an eighth of an inch from it. The first cut, as at B, gives a starting point for the next cut or placement of the chisel. When the second cut (B) has thus been made, the chisel should be turned around, as in dotted line _d_, position C, thereby making a finish cut down to the bottom of the mortise, line _e_, so that when the fourth cut has been made along line _f_, we are ready for the fifth cut, position C; then the sixth cut, position D, which leaves the mortise as shown at E. Then turn the chisel to the position shown at F, and cut down the last end of the mortise square, as shown in G, and clean out the mortise well before making the finishing cuts on the marking lines (_a_, _b_). The particular reason for cleaning out the mortise before making the finish cuts is, that the corners of the mortise are used as fulcrums for the chisels, and the eighth of an inch stock still remaining protects the corners. THINGS TO AVOID IN MORTISING.--You must be careful to refrain from undercutting as your chisel goes down at the lines _a_, _b_, because if you commit this error you will make a bad joint. As much care should be exercised in producing the tenon, although the most common error is apt to occur in making the shoulder. This should be a trifle undercut. [Illustration: _Fig. 209._] See the lines (A, Fig. 209), which illustrate this. LAP-AND-BUTT JOINT.--The lap-and-butt is the form of uniting members which is most generally used to splice together timbers, where they join each other end to end. [Illustration: _Fig. 210._] Bolts are used to secure the laps. But the lap-and-butt form is also used in doors and in other cabinet work. It is of great service in paneling. A rabbet is formed to receive the edge of the panel, and a molding is then secured to the other side on the panel, to hold the latter in place. SCARFING.--This method of securing members together is the most rigid, and when properly performed makes the joint the strongest part of the timber. Each member (A, Fig. 212) has a step diagonally cut (B), the two steps being on different planes, so they form a hook joint, as at C, and as each point or terminal has a blunt end, the members are so constructed as to withstand a longitudinal strain in either direction. The overlapping plates (D) and the bolts (E) hold the joint rigidly. [Illustration: _Fig. 211._] [Illustration: _Fig. 212._] THE TONGUE AND GROOVE.--This form of uniting members has only a limited application. It is serviceable for floors, table tops, paneling, etc. In Fig. 213, a door panel is shown, and the door mullions (B) are also so secured to the rail (C). The tongue-and-groove method is never used by itself. It must always have some support or reinforcing means. [Illustration: _Fig. 213._] [Illustration: _Fig. 214._] [Illustration: _Fig. 215._] BEADING.--This part of the work pertains to surface finishings, and may or may not be used in connection with rabbeting. Figs. 214 and 215 show the simplest and most generally adopted forms in which it is made and used in connection with rabbeting, or with the tongue and groove. The bead is placed on one or both sides of that margin of the board (Fig. 214) which has the tongue, and the adjoining board has the usual flooring groove to butt against and receive the tongue. It is frequently the case that a blind bead, as in Fig. 215, runs through the middle of the board, so as to give the appearance of narrow strips when used for wainscoting, or for ceilings. The beads also serve to hide the joints of the boards. [Illustration: _Fig. 216._] [Illustration: _Fig. 217._] [Illustration: _Fig. 218._] ORNAMENTAL BEAD FINISH.--These figures show how the bead may be used for finishing corners, edges and projections. Fig. 216 has a bead at each corner of a stile (A), and a finishing strip of half-round material (B) is nailed to the flat edge. Fig. 217 has simply the corners themselves beaded, and it makes a most serviceable finish for the edges of projecting members. Fig. 218, used for wider members, has the corners beaded and a fancy molding (C); or the reduced edge of the stile itself is rounded off. [Illustration: _Fig. 219._] [Illustration: _Fig. 220._] THE BEAD AND RABBET.--A more amplified form of work is available where the rabbet plane is used with the beader. These two planes together will, if properly used, offer a strong substitute for molding and molding effects. Fig. 219 has both sides first rabbeted, as at A, and the corners then beaded, as at B, with the reduced part of the member rounded off, as at C. Or, as in Fig. 220, the reduced edge of the member may have the corners beaded, as at D, and the rabbeted corners filled in with a round or concaved moulding (E). SHADING WITH BEADS AND RABBETS.--You will see from the foregoing, that these embellishments are serviceable because they provide the article with a large number of angles and surfaces to cast lights and shadows; and for this reason the boy should strive to produce the effects which this class of work requires. CHAPTER XI HOUSE BUILDING House building is the carpenter's craft; cabinet-making the joiner's trade, yet both are so intimately associated, that it is difficult to draw a line. The same tools, the same methods and the same materials are employed. There is no trade more ennobling than home building. It is a vocation which touches every man and woman, and to make it really an art is, or should be, the true aspiration of every craftsman. THE HOUSE AND EMBELLISHMENTS.--The refined arts, such as sculpture and painting, merely embellish the home or the castle, so that when we build the structure it should be made with an eye not only to comfort and convenience, but fitting in an artistic and æsthetic sense. It is just as easy to build a beautiful home as an ugly, ungainly, illy proportioned structure. BEAUTY NOT ORNAMENTATION.--The boy, in his early training, should learn this fundamental truth, that beauty, architecturally, does not depend upon ornamentation. Some of the most beautiful structures in the world are very plain. Beauty consists in proportions, in proper correlation of parts, and in adaptation for the uses to which the structure is to be put. PLAIN STRUCTURES.--A house with a plain façade, having a roof properly pitched and with a simple cornice, if joined to a wing which is not ungainly or out of proper proportions, is infinitely more beautiful than a rambling structure, in which one part suggests one order of architecture and the other part some other type or no type at all, and in which the embellishments are out of keeping with the size or pretensions of the house. COLONIAL TYPE.--For real beauty, on a larger scale, there is nothing to-day which equals the old Colonial type with the Corinthian columns and entablature. The Lee mansion, now the National Cemetery, at Washington, is a fine example. Such houses are usually square or rectangular in plan, severely plain, with the whole ornamentation consisting of the columns and the portico. This type presents an appearance of massiveness and grandeur and is an excellent illustration of a form wherein the main characteristic of the structure is concentrated or massed at one point. The Church of the Madelaine, Paris, is another striking example of this period of architecture. Of course, it would be out of place with cottages and small houses, but it is well to study and to know what forms are most available and desirable to adopt, and particularly to know something of the art in which you are interested. THE ROOF THE KEYNOTE.--Now, there is one thing which should, and does, distinguish the residence from other types of buildings, excepting churches. It is the roof. A house is dominated by its covering. I refer to the modern home. It is not true with the Colonial or the Grecian types. In those the façade or the columns and cornices predominate over everything else. BUNGALOW TYPES.--If you will take up any book on bungalow work and note the outlines of the views you will see that the roof forms the main element or theme. In fact, in most buildings of this kind everything is submerged but the roof and roof details. They are made exceedingly flat, with different pitches with dormers and gables intermingled and indiscriminately placed, with cornices illy assorted and of different kinds, so that the multiplicity of diversified details gives an appearance of great elaboration. Many of those designs are monstrosities and should, if possible, be legally prohibited. I cannot attempt to give even so much as an outline of what constitutes art in its relation to building, but my object is to call attention to this phase of the question, and as you proceed in your studies and your work you will realize the value and truthfulness of the foregoing observations. GENERAL HOUSE BUILDING.--We are to treat, generally, on the subject of house building, how the work is laid out, and how built, and in doing so I shall take a concrete example of the work. This can be made more effectual for the purpose if it is on simple lines. BUILDING PLANS.--We must first have a plan; and the real carpenter must have the ability to plan as well as to do the work. We want a five-room house, comprising a parlor, dining room, two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. Just a modest little home, to which we can devote our spare hours, and which will be neat and comfortable when finished. It must be a one-story house, and that fact at once settles the roof question. We can make the house perfectly square in plan, or rectangular, and divide up the space into the proper divisions. THE PLAIN SQUARE FLOOR PLAN will first be taken up, as it is such an easy roof to build. Of course, it is severely plain. Fig. 221 shows our proposed plan, drawn in the rough, without any attempts to measure the different apartments, and with the floor plan exactly square. Supposing we run a hall (A) through the middle. On one side of this let us plan for a dining room and a kitchen, a portion of the kitchen space to be given over to a closet and a bathroom. [Illustration: _Fig. 221._] The chimney (B) must be made accessible from both rooms. On the other side of the hallway the space is divided into a parlor and two bedrooms. THE RECTANGULAR PLAN.--In the rectangular floor plan (Fig. 222) a portion of the floor space is cut out for a porch (A), so that we may use the end or the side for the entrance. Supposing we use the end of the house for this purpose. The entrance room (B) may be a bedroom, or a reception and living room, and to the rear of this room is the dining room, connected with the reception room by a hall (C). This hall also leads to the kitchen and to the bathroom, as well as to the other bedroom. The parlor is connected with the entrance room (B), and also with the bedroom. All of this is optional, of course. [Illustration: _Fig. 222._] There are also two chimneys, one chimney (D) having two flues and the other chimney (E) having three flues, so that every room is accommodated. [Illustration: _Fig. 223._] ROOM MEASUREMENTS.--We must now determine the dimensions of each room, and then how we shall build the roof. In Figs. 223 and 224, we have now drawn out in detail the sizes, the locations of the door and windows, the chimneys and the closets, as well as the bathroom. All this work may be changed or modified to suit conditions and the taste of the designer. [Illustration: _Fig. 224._] FRONT AND SIDE LINES.--From the floor diagram, and the door and window spaces, as marked out, we may now proceed to lay out rough front and side outlines of the building. The ceilings are to be 9 feet, and if we put a rather low-pitched roof on the square structure (Fig. 223) the front may look something like Fig. 225, and a greater pitch given to the rectangular plan (Fig. 224) will present a view as shown in Fig. 226. [Illustration: _Fig. 225._] [Illustration: _Fig. 226._] THE ROOF.--The pitch of the roof (Fig. 225) is what is called "third pitch," and the roof (Fig. 226) has a half pitch. A "third" pitch is determined as follows: ROOF PITCH.--In Fig. 227 draw a vertical line (A) and join it by a horizontal line (B). Then strike a circle (C) and step it off into three parts. The line (D), which intersects the first mark (E) and the angle of the lines (A, B), is the pitch. In Fig. 228 the line A is struck at 15 degrees, which is halfway between lines B and C, and it is, therefore, termed "half-pitch." [Illustration: _Fig. 227._] [Illustration: _Fig. 228._] Thus, we have made the ground plans, the elevations and the roofs as simple as possible. Let us proceed next with the details of the building. THE FOUNDATION.--This may be of brick, stone or concrete, and its dimensions should be at least 1-1/2 inches further out than the sill. THE SILLS.--We are going to build what is called a "balloon frame"; and, first, we put down the sills, which will be a course of 2" � 6", or 2" � 8" joists, as in Fig. 229. THE FLOORING JOIST.--The flooring joists (A) are then put down (Fig. 230). These should extend clear across the house from side to side, if possible, or, if the plan is too wide, they should be lapped at the middle wall and spiked together. The ends should extend out flush with the outer margins of the sills, as shown, but in putting down the first and last sill, space must be left along the sides of the joist of sufficient width to place the studding. [Illustration: _Fig. 229._] [Illustration: _Fig. 230._] THE STUDDING.--The next step is to put the studding into position. 4" � 4" must be used for corners and at the sides of door and window openings. 4" � 6" may be used at corners, if preferred. Consult your plan and see where the openings are for doors and windows. Measure the widths of the door and window frames, and make a measuring stick for this purpose. You must leave at least one-half inch clearance for the window or door frame, so as to give sufficient room to plumb and set the frame. SETTING UP.--First set up the corner posts, plumbing and bracing them. Cut a top plate for each side you are working on. [Illustration: _Fig. 231._] THE PLATE.--As it will be necessary in our job to use two or more lengths of 2" � 4" scantling for the plate, it will be necessary to join them together. Do this with a lap-and-butt joint (Fig. 231). Then set up the 4" � 4" posts for the sides of the doors and windows, and for the partition walls. The plate should be laid down on the sill, and marked with a pencil for every scantling to correspond with the sill markings. The plate is then put on and spiked to the 4" � 4" posts. INTERMEDIATE STUDDING.--It will then be an easy matter to put in the intermediate 2" � 4" studding, placing them as nearly as possible 16 inches apart to accommodate the 48-inch plastering lath. [Illustration: _Fig. 232._] WALL HEADERS.--When all the studding are in you will need headers above and rails below the windows and headers above all the doors, so that you will have timbers to nail the siding to, as well as for the lathing. CEILING JOISTS.--We are now ready for the ceiling joists, which are, usually, 2" � 6", unless there is an upper floor. These are laid 16 inches apart from center to center, preferably parallel with the floor joist. It should be borne in mind that the ceiling joist must always be put on with reference to the roof. Thus, in Fig. 232, the ceiling joists (A) have their ends resting on the plate (B), so that the rafters are in line with the joists. BRACES.--It would also be well, in putting up the studding, to use plenty of braces, although for a one-story building this is not so essential as in two-story structures, because the weather boarding serves as a system of bracing. [Illustration: _Fig. 233._] THE RAFTERS.--These may be made to provide for the gutter or not, as may be desired. They should be of 2" � 4" scantling. THE GUTTER.--In Fig. 233 I show a most serviceable way to provide for the gutter. A V-shaped notch is cut out of the upper side of the rafter, in which is placed the floor and a side. This floor piece is raised at one end to provide an incline for the water. A face-board is then applied and nailed to the ends of the rafters. This face-board is surmounted by a cap, which has an overhang, beneath which is a molding of any convenient pattern. The face-board projects down at least two inches below the angled cut of the rafter, so that when the base-board is applied, the lower margin of the face-board will project one inch below the base. [Illustration: _Fig. 234._] This base-board is horizontal, as you will see. The facia-board may be of any desired width, and a corner molding should be added. It is optional to use the brackets, but if added they should be spaced apart a distance not greater than twice the height of the bracket. A much simpler form of gutter is shown in Fig. 234, in which a V-shaped notch is also cut in the rafter, and the channel is made by the pieces. The end of the rafter is cut at right angles, so the face-board is at an angle. This is also surmounted by an overhanging cap and a molding. The base is nailed to the lower edges of the rafters, and the facia is then applied. [Illustration: _Fig. 234a._] In Fig. 234_a_ the roof has no gutter, so that the end of the rafter is cut off at an angle and a molding applied on the face-board. The base is nailed to the rafters. This is the cheapest and simplest form of structure for the roof. SETTING DOOR AND WINDOW FRAMES.--The next step in order is to set the door and window frames preparatory to applying the weather boarding. It is then ready for the roof, which should be put on before the floor is laid. PLASTERING AND INSIDE FINISH.--Next in order is the plastering, then the base-boards and the casing; and, finally, the door and windows should be fitted into position. Enough has been said here merely to give a general outline, with some details, how to proceed with the work. CHAPTER XII BRIDGES, TRUSSED WORK AND LIKE STRUCTURES BRIDGES.--Bridge building is not, strictly, a part of the carpenter's education at the present day, because most structures of this kind are now built of steel; but there are certain principles involved in bridge construction which the carpenter should master. SELF-SUPPORTING ROOFS.--In putting up, for instance, self-supporting roofs, or ceilings with wide spans, and steeples or towers, the bridge principle of trussed members should be understood. The most simple bridge or trussed form is the well-known A-shaped arch. [Illustration: _Fig. 235._] COMMON TRUSSES.--One form is shown in Fig. 235, with a vertical king post. In Fig. 236 there are two vertical supporting members, called queen posts, used in longer structures. Both of these forms are equally well adapted for small bridges or for roof supports. THE VERTICAL UPRIGHT TRUSS.--This form of truss naturally develops into a type of wooden bridge known all over the country, as its framing is simple, and calculations as to its capacity to sustain loads may readily be made. Figs. 237, 238 and 239 illustrate these forms. [Illustration: _Fig. 236._] [Illustration: _Fig. 237._] THE WARREN GIRDER.--Out of this simple truss grew the Warren girder, a type of bridge particularly adapted for iron and steel construction. This is the simplest form for metal bridge truss, or girder. It is now also largely used in steel buildings and for other work requiring strength with small weight. [Illustration: _Fig. 238._] [Illustration: _Fig. 239._] [Illustration: _Fig. 240._] THE BOWSTRING GIRDER.--Only one other form of bridge truss need be mentioned here, and that is the _bowstring_ shown in Fig. 240. In this type the bow receives the entire compression thrust, and the chords act merely as suspending members. FUNDAMENTAL TRUSS FORM.--In every form of truss, whether for building or for bridge work, the principles of the famous A-truss must be employed in some form or other; and the boy who is experimentally inclined will readily evolve means to determine what degree of strength the upper and the lower members must have for a given length of truss to sustain a specified weight. There are rules for all these problems, some of them very intricate, but all of them intensely interesting. It will be a valuable addition to your knowledge to give this subject earnest study. CHAPTER XIII THE BEST WOODS FOR THE BEGINNER In this place consideration will be given to some of the features relating to the materials to be employed, particularly with reference to the manner in which they can be worked to the best advantage, rather than to their uses. THE BEST WOODS.--The prime wood, and the one with which most boys are familiar, is white pine. It has an even texture throughout, is generally straight grained, and is soft and easily worked. White pine is a wood requiring a very sharp tool. It is, therefore, the best material for the beginner, as it will at the outset teach him the important lesson of keeping the tools in a good, sharp condition. SOFT WOODS.--It is also well for the novice to do his initial work with a soft wood, because in joining the parts together inaccuracies may be easily corrected. If, for instance, in mortising and tenoning, the edge of the mortised member is not true, or, rather, is not "square," the shoulder of the tenon on one side will abut before the other side does, and thus leave a crack, if the wood is hard. If the wood is soft there is always enough yield to enable the workman to spring it together. Therefore, until you have learned how to make a true joint, use soft wood. Poplar is another good wood for the beginner, as well as redwood, a western product. HARD WOODS.--Of the hard woods, cherry is the most desirable for the carpenter's tool. For working purposes it has all the advantages of a soft wood, and none of its disadvantages. It is not apt to warp, like poplar or birch, and its shrinking unit is less than that of any other wood, excepting redwood. There is practically no shrinkage in redwood. THE MOST DIFFICULT WOODS.--Ash is by far the most difficult wood to work. While not as hard as oak, it has the disadvantage that the entire board is seamed with growth ribs which are extremely hard, while the intervening layers between these ribs are soft, and have open pores, so that, for instance, in making a mortise, the chisel is liable to follow the hard ribs, if the grain runs at an angle to the course of the mortise. THE HARD-RIBBED GRAIN IN WOOD.--This peculiarity of the grain in ash makes it a beautiful wood when finished. Of the light-colored woods, oak only excels it, because in this latter wood each year's growth shows a wider band, and the interstices between the ribs have stronger contrasting colors than ash; so that in filling the surface, before finishing it, the grain of the wood is brought out with most effective clearness and with a beautifully blended contrast. THE EASIEST WORKING WOODS.--The same thing may be said, relatively, concerning cherry and walnut. While cherry has a beautiful finishing surface, the blending contrasts of colors are not so effective as in walnut. Oregon pine is extremely hard to work, owing to the same difficulties experienced in handling ash; but the finished Oregon pine surface makes it a most desirable material for certain articles of furniture. Do not attempt to employ this nor ash until you have mastered the trade. Confine yourself to pine, poplar, cherry and walnut. These woods are all easily obtainable everywhere, and from them you can make a most creditable variety of useful articles. Sugar and maple are two hard woods which may be added to the list. Sugar, particularly, is a good-working wood, but maple is more difficult. Spruce, on the other hand, is the strongest and toughest wood, considering its weight, which is but a little more than that of pine. DIFFERENCES IN THE WORKING OF WOODS.--Different woods are not worked with equal facility by all the tools. Oak is an easy wood to handle with a saw, but is, probably, aside from ash, the most difficult wood known to plane. Ash is hard for the saw or the plane. On the other hand, there is no wood so easy to manipulate with the saw or plane as cherry. Pine is easily worked with a plane, but difficult to saw; not on account of hardness, but because it is so soft that the saw is liable to tear it. FORCING SAWS IN WOOD.--One of the reasons why the forcing of saws is such a bad practice will be observed in cutting white or yellow pine. For cross-cutting, the saw should have fine teeth, not heavily set, and evenly filed. To do a good job of cross-cutting, the saw must be held at a greater angle, or should lay down flatter than in ripping, as by so doing the lower side of the board will not break away as much as if the saw should be held more nearly vertical. These general observations are made in the hope that they will serve as a guide to enable you to select your lumber with some degree of intelligence before you commence work. CHAPTER XIV WOOD TURNING ADVANTAGES OF WOOD TURNING.--This is not, strictly, in the carpenter's domain; but a knowledge of its use will be of great service in the trade, and particularly in cabinet making. I urge the ingenious youth to rig up a wood-turning lathe, for the reason that it is a tool easily made and one which may be readily turned by foot, if other power is not available. SIMPLE TURNING LATHE.--A very simple turning lathe may be made by following these instructions: THE RAILS.--Procure two straight 2" � 4" scantling (A), four feet long, and planed on all sides. Bore four 3/8-inch holes at each end, as shown, and 10 inches from one end four more holes. A plan of these holes is shown in B, where the exact spacing is indicated. Then prepare two pieces 2" � 4" scantling (C), planed, 42 inches long, one end of each being chamfered off, as at 2, and provided with four bolt holes. Ten inches down, and on the same side, with the chamfer (2) is a cross gain (3), the same angle as the chamfer. Midway between the cross gain (3) and the lower end of the leg is a gain (4) in the edge, at right angles to the cross gain (3). THE LEGS.--Now prepare two legs (D) for the tail end of the frame, each 32 inches long, with a chamfer (5) at one end, and provided with four bolt holes. At the lower end bore a bolt hole for the cross base piece. This piece (E) is 4" � 4", 21 inches long, and has a bolt hole at each end and one near the middle. The next piece (F) is 2" � 4", 14-1/2 inches long, provided with a rebate (6) at each end, to fit the cross gains (4) of the legs (C). Near the middle is a journal block (7). [Illustration: _Fig. 241. Frame details._] CENTERING BLOCKS.--Next provide a 4" � 4" piece (G), 40 inches long, through which bore a 3/4-inch hole (8), 2 inches from the upper end, and four bolt holes at right angles to the shaft hole (8). Then, with a saw split down this bearing, as shown at 9, to a point 4 inches from the end. Ten inches below the upper end prepare two cross gains (10), each an inch deep and four inches wide. In these gains are placed the top rails (A), so the bolt holes in the gains (10) will coincide with the bolt holes (11) in the piece A. Below the gains (10) this post has a journal block (12), intended to be in line with the journal block (7) of the piece F. [Illustration: _Fig. 242. Tail Stock._] Then make a block (H) 2" � 4", and 6 inches long. This also must have a shaft hole (B), and a saw kerf (14), similar to the arrangement on the upper end of the post (G); also bore four bolt holes, as shown. This block rests between the upper ends of the lugs (C). Another block (I), 2" � 4", and 6 feet long, with four bolt holes, will be required for the tail end of the frame, to keep the rails (A) two inches apart at that end. THE TAIL STOCK.--This part of the structure is made of the following described material: Procure a scantling (J), planed, 4" � 4", 24 inches long, the upper end of which is to be provided with four bolt holes, and a centering hole (15). At the lower end of the piece is a slot (16) 8 inches long and 1-1/2 inches wide, and there are also two bolt holes bored transversely through the piece to receive bolts for reinforcing the end. A pair of cheekpieces (K), 2" � 4", and each 12 inches long, are mitered at the ends, and each has four bolt holes by means of which the ends may be bolted to the upright (J). Then a step wedge (L) is made of 1-3/8" � 2" material, 10 inches long. This has at least four steps (17), each step being 2 inches long. A wedge 1-3/8 inches thick, 10 inches long, and tapering from 2 inches to 1-3/8 inches, completes the tail-stock. THE TOOL REST.--This is the most difficult part of the whole lathe, as it must be rigid, and so constructed that it has a revolvable motion as well as being capable of a movement to and from the material in the lathe. Select a good 4" � 4" scantling (M), 14 inches long, as shown in Fig. 243. Two inches from one end cut a cross gain (I), 1-1/2 inches deep and 1 inch wide, and round off the upper edge, as at 2. Then prepare a piece (N), 1 inch thick, 8 inches wide, and 10 inches long. Round off the upper edge to form a nose, and midway between its ends cut a cross gain 4 inches wide and 1-1/2 inches deep. The lower margin may be cut away, at an angle on each side of the gain. All that is necessary now is to make a block (O), 8 inches long, rounded on one edge, and a wedge (P). [Illustration: _Fig 243. Tool Rest._] A leather belt or strap (Q), 1-1/2 inches wide, formed into a loop, as shown in the perspective view (R), serves as a means for holding the rest rigidly when the wedge is driven in. MATERIALS.--Then procure the following bolts: 4-3/8" bolts, 10" long. 8-3/8" '' 6" '' 20-3/8" '' 5" '' 5-3/8" '' 9" '' THE MANDREL.--A piece of steel tubing (S), No. 10 gage, 3/4 inch in diameter, 11-1/2 inches long, will be required for the mandrel. Get a blacksmith, if a machine shop is not convenient, to put a fixed center (1) in one end, and a removable centering member (2) in the other end. On this mandrel place a collar (3), held by a set screw, and alongside of it a pair of pulleys, each 1-1/2 inches wide, one of them, being, say, 2 inches in diameter, and the other 3 inches. This mandrel is held in position by means of the posts of the frame which carry the split journal bearings. This form of bearing will make a durable lathe, free from chattering, as the bolts can be used for tightening the mandrel whenever they wear. [Illustration: _Fig. 244. Mandrel._] The center point (1) is designed to rest against a metal plate (4) bolted to the wooden post, as shown in the large drawing. FLY-WHEEL.--It now remains only to provide a fly-wheel and treadle with the communicating belt. The fly-wheel may be of any convenient size, or it may be some discarded pulley or wheel. Suppose it is two feet in diameter; then, as your small pulley is 2 inches in diameter, each revolution of the large wheel makes twelve revolutions in the mandrel, and you can readily turn the wheel eighty times a minute. In that case your mandrel will revolve 960 revolutions per minute, which is ample speed for your purposes. The wheel should be mounted on a piece of 3/4-inch steel tubing, one end having a crank 3 inches long. This crank is connected up by a pitman rod, with the triangularly shaped treadle frame. Such a lathe is easily made, as it requires but little metal or machine work, and it is here described because it will be a pleasure for a boy to make such a useful tool. What he needs is the proper plan and the right dimensions to carry out the work, and his own ingenuity will make the modifications suitable to his purpose. The illustration (Fig. 245) shows such a lathe assembled ready for work. THE TOOLS REQUIRED.--A few simple tools will complete an outfit capable of doing a great variety of work. The illustration (Fig. 246) shows five chisels, of which all other chisels are modifications. A and B are both oblique firmer chisels, A being ground with a bevel on one side only, and B with a bevel on each side. C is a broad gage, with a hollow blade, and a curved cutting edge, ground with a taper on the rounded side only. D is a narrow gage similarly ground, and E is a V-shaped gage. [Illustration: _Fig. 245._] [Illustration: _Fig. 246._] It may be observed that in wood-turning sharp tools are absolutely necessary, hence a good oil stone, or several small, round and V-shaped stones should be used. CHAPTER XV ON THE USE OF STAINS As this subject properly belongs to the painter and decorator, it is not necessary to go into details concerning the methods used to finish off your work. As you may not be able to afford the luxury of having your productions painted or stained, enough information will be given to enable you, if the character of the wood justifies it, to do the work yourself to a limited extent. SOFT WOOD.--As, presumably, most of your first work will be done with pine, poplar, or other light-colored material, and, as many people prefer the furniture to be dark in color, you should be prepared to accommodate them. USE OF STAINS.--Our subject has nothing to do with the technique of staining, but has reference, solely, to the use of stains. I recommend, therefore, that, since all kinds of stains are now kept in stock, and for sale everywhere, you would better rely upon the manufactured goods rather than to endeavor to mix up the paints yourself. STAINS AS IMITATIONS.--It will be well to remember one thing as to stains. Never attempt to stain anything unless that stain is intended to produce an imitation of some real wood. There are stains made up which, when applied, do not imitate any known wood. This is bad taste and should be avoided. Again you should know that the same stain tint will not produce like effects on the different light-colored woods. Try the cherry stain on pieces of pine, poplar, and birch, and you will readily see that while pine gives a brilliant red, comparatively speaking, pine or birch will be much darker, and the effect on poplar will be that of a muddy color. In fact, poplar does not stain cherry to good advantage; and for birch the ordinary stain should have a small addition of vermilion. By making trials of your stains before applying them to the furniture, you will readily see the value of this suggestion. GOOD TASTE IN STAINING.--Oak, mahogany, cherry, black walnut, and like imitations are always good in an artistic sense, but imitations of unfamiliar woods mean nothing to the average person. The too common mistake is to try to imitate oak by staining pine or poplar or birch. It may, with good effect, be stained to imitate cherry. Oregon pine, or some light-colored wood, with a strong contrasting grain may be used for staining in imitation of oak. GREAT CONTRASTS BAD.--Violent contrasts in furniture staining have the effect of cheapness, unless the contrasting outlines are artistically distributed throughout the article, from base to top finish. STAINING CONTRASTING WOODS.--Then, again, do not stain a piece of furniture so that one part represents a cheap, soft wood, and the other part a dark or costly wood. Imagine, for instance, a cabinet with the stiles, rails and mullions of mahogany, and the panels of pine or poplar, or the reverse, and you can understand how incongruous would be the result produced. On the other hand, it would not be a very artistic job to make the panels of cherry and the mullions and stiles of mahogany, because the two woods do not harmonize, although frequently wrongly combined. HARD WOOD IMITATIONS.--It would be better to use, for instance, ash or oak for one portion of the work, and a dark wood, like cherry or walnut, for the other part; but usually a cherry cabinet should be made of cherry throughout; while a curly maple chiffonier could not be improved by having the legs of some other material. These considerations should determine for you whether or not you can safely use stains to represent different woods in the same article. NATURAL EFFECTS.--If effects are wanted, the skilled workman will properly rely upon the natural grain of the wood; hence, in staining, you should try to imitate nature, because in staining you will depend for contrast on the natural grain of the wood to help you out in producing pleasing effects. NATURAL WOOD STAINS.--It should be said, in general, however, that a stain is, at best, a poor makeshift. There is nothing so pleasing as the natural wood. It always has an appearance of cleanliness and openness. To stain the wood shows an attempt to cover up cheapness by a cheap contrivance. The exception to this rule is mahogany, which is generally enriched by the application of a ruby tint which serves principally to emphasize the beautiful markings of the wood. POLISHING STAINED SURFACES.--If, on the other hand, you wish to go to the labor of polishing the furniture to a high degree, staining becomes an art, and will add to the beauty and durability of any soft or cheap wood, excepting poplar. When the article is highly polished, so a good, smooth surface is provided, staining does not cheapen, but, on the other hand, serves to embellish the article. As a rule, therefore, it is well to inculcate this lesson: Do not stain unless you polish; otherwise, it is far better to preserve the natural color of the wood. One of the most beautiful sideboards I ever saw was made of Oregon pine, and the natural wood, well filled and highly polished. That finish gave it an effect which enhanced its value to a price which equaled any cherry or mahogany product. CHAPTER XVI THE CARPENTER AND THE ARCHITECT A carpenter has a trade; the architect a profession. It is not to be assumed that one vocation is more honorable than the other. A _profession_ is defined as a calling, or occupation, "if not mechanical, agricultural, or the like," to which one devotes himself and his energies. A _trade_ is defined as an occupation "which a person has learned and engages in, especially mechanical employment, as distinguished from the liberal arts," or the learned professions. _Opportunity_ is the great boon in life. To the ambitious young man the carpenter's trade offers a field for venturing into the learned professions by a route which cannot be equaled in any other pursuit. In his work he daily enters into contact with problems which require mathematics of the highest order, geometry, the methods of calculating strains and stresses, as well as laying out angles and curves. This is a trade wherein he must keep in mind many calculations as to materials, number, size, and methods of joining; he must remember all the small details which go to make up the entire structure. This exercise necessitates a mental picture of the finished product. His imagination is thus directed to concrete objects. As the mind develops, it becomes creative in its character, and the foundation is laid for a higher sphere of usefulness in what is called the professional field. A good carpenter naturally develops into an architect, and the best architect is he who knows the trade. It is a profession which requires not only the artistic taste, but a technical knowledge of details, of how practically to carry out the work, how to superintend construction, and what the different methods are for doing things. The architect must have a scientific education, which gives him a knowledge of the strength of materials, and of structural forms; of the durability of materials; of the price, quality, and use of everything which goes into a structure; of labor conditions; and of the laws pertaining to buildings. Many of these questions will naturally present themselves to the carpenter. They are in the sphere of his employment, but it depends upon himself to make the proper use of the material thus daily brought to him. It is with a view to instil that desire and ambition in every young man, to make the brain do what the hand has heretofore done, that I suggest this course. The learned profession is yours if you deserve it, and you can deserve it only through study, application, and perseverance. Do well that which you attempt to do. _Don't_ do it in that manner because some one has done it in that way before you. If, in the trade, the experience of ages has taught the craftsman that some particular way of doing things is correct, there is no law to prevent you from combating that method. Your way may be better. But you must remember that in every plan for doing a thing there is some particular reason, or reasons, why it is carried out in that way. Study and learn to apply those reasons. So in your leisure or in your active moments, if you wish to advance, you must be alert. _Know for yourself the reasons for things_, and you will thereby form the stepping stones that will lead you upward and contribute to your success. CHAPTER XVII USEFUL ARTICLES TO MAKE As stated in the Introductory, the purpose of this book is to show _how to do the things_, and not to draw a picture in order to write a description of it. Merely in the line of suggestion, we give in this chapter views and brief descriptions of useful household articles, all of which may be made by the boy who has carefully studied the preceding pages. [Illustration: _Fig. 247._] This figure shows a common bench wholly made of material 1 inch thick, the top being 12 inches wide and 4 feet long. The legs are 14 inches high and 13 inches wide; and the side supporting rails are 3 inches wide. These proportions may, of course, be varied. You will note that the sides of the top or seat have an overhang of 1/2 inch on each margin. [Illustration: _Fig. 248._] [Illustration: _Fig. 249._] This is a common, square-top stool, the seat being 12" � 12", and the legs 14 inches high. Two of the pieces forming the legs are 10 inches wide and the other two 8 inches wide, so that when the wide pieces are nailed to the edges of the narrow pieces the leg body will be 10" � 10" and thus give the seat an overhang of 1 inch around the margins. [Illustration: _Fig. 250._] A most useful article is shown in Fig. 249. It is a blacking-box with a lid, a folding shoe rest and three compartments. The detached figure shows a vertical cross-section of the body of the box, and illustrates how the shoe rest is hinged to the sides of the box. The box itself is 14" � 16" in dimensions; the sides are 6 inches wide and the legs 5 inches in height. In order to give strength to the legs, the bottom has its corners cut out, to permit the upper ends of the legs to rest in the recesses thus formed. [Illustration: _Fig. 251._] This is a convenient form of easel, made of four uprights. The main front uprights are of strips 5/8" � 1-1/4", and the rear uprights are of 1/2" � 1" material. A thin broomstick will serve as the pivot bar for the upper end. The rest is made of two strips, each 1/2" � 1", nailed together to form an L, and nails or wooden pins will serve to hold the rest in any desired position. The front uprights should be at least 5 feet long. A simple hanging book-rack is illustrated in Fig. 251. The two vertical strips are each 4 inches wide, 1 inch thick and 4 feet long. Four shelves are provided, each 3/4 inch thick, 9 inches wide and 4 feet long. Each shelf is secured to the uprights by hinges on the upper side, so as to permit it to be swung upwardly, or folded; and below each hinge is a triangular block or bracket, fixed to the shelf, to support it in a horizontal position. [Illustration: _Fig. 252._] A sad-iron holder, or bookcase, shown in Fig. 252, is another simple form of structure. It may be sufficiently large to serve as a standing case by having the uprights at the ends serve as legs, or the uprights may have holes at their upper ends, by means of which it can be suspended on a wall. As shown, it is 30 inches long from bottom to top, and 20 inches wide. The shelves are 8 inches wide. All the material is, preferably, 3/4-inch stock. [Illustration: _Fig. 253._] Fig. 253 shows a wood-box, or it may readily be adapted for coal. For wood it should be 2 feet long, 1 foot 8 inches wide and 1 foot 10 inches high. It will, of course, be made of such dimensions as to suit the wood to be stored in it, and both the flat-top as well as the sloping portion of the top should be hinged, so that the entire top can be opened for filling purposes. [Illustration: _Fig. 254._] [Illustration: _Fig. 255._] A pair of parallel bars is shown in Fig. 254. The dimensions of this will vary, and be dependent on the size of the boy intending to use it; but a size best adapted is to make the posts 3 feet high, and the distance between the bars 16 inches. This gives ample room for the exercises required. The length between the posts along the bars should be at least 5 feet. The entire structure can be made of soft wood, except the bars, which should be of hard, rigid wood. The posts can be made of 2" � 2" material, and the braces 2" � 1". The base pieces, both longitudinal and transverse, should also be of 2" � 2" material. [Illustration: _Fig. 256._] [Illustration: _Fig. 257._] Fig. 255 represents a mission type of writing desk for a boy's use. All the posts, braces and horizontal bars are of 2" � 2" material, secured to each other by mortises and tenons. The legs are 27 inches high up to the table top, and the narrow shelf is 12 inches above the top. The most convenient size for the top is 26" � 48". The top boards may be 1 inch thick and the shelf the same thickness, or even 3/4 inch. It is well braced and light, and its beauty will depend largely on the material of which it is made. [Illustration: _Fig. 258._] The screen (Fig. 256) represents simply the framework, showing how simple the structure is. The bars are all of 1-1/2" � 1-1/2" material, secured together by mortises and tenons. Fig. 257 represents a mission chair to match the desk (Fig. 255), and should be made of the same material. The posts are all of 2" � 2" material. The seat of the chair should be 16 inches, and the rear posts should extend up above the seat at least 18 inches. [Illustration: _Fig. 259._] [Illustration: _Fig. 260._] [Illustration: _Fig. 261._] Fig. 258 is a good example of a grandfather's clock in mission style. The framework only is shown. The frame is 12" � 12", and 5 feet high, and made up of 2" � 2" material. When neatly framed together, it is a most attractive article of furniture. The top may be covered in any suitable way, showing a roof effect. The opening for the dial face of the clock should be at one of the gable ends. A more pretentious bookcase is shown in Fig. 259, in which the frame is made up wholly of 2" � 2" material. The cross-end bars serve as ledges to support the shelves. This may be lined interiorly and backed with suitable casing material, such as Lincrusta Walton, or fiber-board, and the front provided with doors. Our only object is to show the framework for your guidance, and merely to make suggestions as to structural forms. [Illustration: _Fig. 262._] Another most serviceable article is a case for a coal scuttle (Fig. 260). This should be made of 1-inch boards, and the size of the door, which carries the scuttle shelf, should be 12" � 16" in size. From this you can readily measure the dimensions of the case itself, the exterior dimensions of which are 15" � 20", so that when the 1-inch top is placed on, it will be 21 inches high. The case from front to rear is 12 inches, and the shelf above the top is 11 inches wide, and elevated 10 inches above the top of the case. This is a most useful box for culinary articles, if not needed for coal, because the ledge, used for the coal scuttle, can be used to place utensils on, and when the door is opened all the utensils are exposed to view, and are, therefore, much more accessible than if stored away in the case itself. [Illustration: _Fig. 263._] A mission armchair. Fig. 261 is more elaborate than the chair shown in Fig. 257, but it is the same in general character, and is also made of 2" � 2" stock. The seat is elevated 16 inches from the floor, and the rear posts are 28 inches high. The arms are 8 inches above the seat. A chair of this character should have ample seat space, so the seat is 18" � 18". The dog house (Fig. 262), made in imitation of a dwelling, is 24 inches square, and 18 inches high to the eaves of the roof. The opening in front is 8" � 10", exclusive of the shaped portion of the opening. [Illustration: _Fig. 264._] [Illustration: _Fig. 265._] Fig. 263 shows a simple and easily constructed settee with an under shelf. The seat is 16 inches from the floor and 24 inches wide. The back extends up 24 inches from the seat. The lower shelf is midway between the floor and seat, and is 19 inches wide. This may or may not be upholstered, dependent on the character of the material of which it is made. If upholstered, the boards may be of second-class material, preferably of pine or other light, soft wood. A towel rack (Fig. 264) is always a needed article in the kitchen. The roller may be an old curtain roller cut down to 18 inches in length. The top piece is 2-1/2 inches wide and 21 inches long. The vertical bars are each 1-1/2 inches wide and 9 inches long. The brackets are 1-1/2 inches wide and made of 3/4-inch material. Fig. 265 represents the framework of a sofa, the seat of which is 16 inches high, the front posts up to the arm-rests 24 inches, and the rear posts 38 inches. From front to rear the seat is 18 inches. The posts are of 3" � 3" material. This makes a very rigid article of furniture, if mortised and tenoned and properly glued. The seat is 6 feet long, but it may be lengthened or shortened to suit the position in which it is to be placed. It is a companion piece to the chair (Fig. 261). CHAPTER XVIII SPECIAL TOOLS AND THEIR USES In the foregoing chapters we have referred the reader to the simple tools, but it is thought desirable to add to the information thus given, an outline of numerous special tools which have been devised and are now on the market. BIT AND LEVEL ADJUSTER.--It is frequently necessary to bore holes at certain angles. This can be done by using a bevel square, and holding it so one limb will show the boring angle. But this is difficult to do in many cases. [Illustration: _Fig. 266. Bit and Square level._] This tool has three pairs of V slots on its back edges. The shank of the bit will lie in these slots, as shown in Fig. 266, either vertically, or at an angle of 45 degrees, and boring can be done with the utmost accuracy. It may be attached to a Carpenter's square, thus making it an accurate plumb or level. MITER BOXES.--The advantages of metal miter boxes is apparent, when accurate work is required. The illustration, Fig. 267, shows a metal tool of this kind, in which the entire frame is in one solid casting. The saw guide uprights are clamped in tapered sockets in the swivel arm and can be adjusted to hold the saw without play, and this will also counteract a saw that runs out of true, due to improper setting or filing. [Illustration: _Fig. 267. Metal Miter Box._] A second socket in the swivel arm permits the use of a short saw or allows a much longer stroke with a standard or regular saw. The swivel arm is provided with a tapering index pin which engages in holes placed on the under side of the base. The edge of the base is graduated in degrees, as plainly shown, and the swivel arm can be set and automatically fastened at any degree desired. [Illustration: _Fig. 268. Parts of Metal Miter Box._] The uprights, front and back are graduated in sixteenths of inches, and movable stops can be set, by means of thumb-screw to the depth of the cut desired. Figure 268 shows the parts of the miter box, in which the numbers designate the various parts: 101 is the frame; 102 the frame board; 104 frame leg; 106 guide stock; 107 stock guide clamp; 109 stock guide plate; 110 swivel arm; 111 swivel arm bushing; 112 swivel bushing screw; 113 index clamping lever; 115 index clamping lever catch; 116 index clamping lever spring; 122 swivel complete; 123 T-base; 124-1/2 uprights; 126 saw guide cap; 127 saw guide cap plate; 132 saw guide tie bar; 133 left saw guide stop and screw; 134 right side guide stop and screw; 135 saw guide stop spring; 136 saw guide cylinder; 137 saw guide cylinder plate; 138 trip lever (back); 139 trip lever (front); 141 leveling screw; 142 trip clamp and screw; 146 T-base clamp screw. [Illustration: _Fig. 269. Angle Dividers._] ANGLE DIVIDERS.--This is another tool, which does not cost much and is of great service to the carpenter in fitting moldings where they are applied at odd angles. To lay out the cut with an ordinary bevel necessitates the use of dividers and a second handling of the bevel, making three operations. THE "ODD JOB" TOOL.--A most useful special tool, which combines in its make-up a level, plumb try-square, miter-square, bevel, scratch awl, depth gage, marking gage, miter gage, beam compass, and a one-foot rule. To the boy who wishes to economize in the purchase of tools this is an article which should be obtained. [Illustration: _Fig. 270. "Odd Job" Tool._] Figure 270 shows the simplicity of the tool, and how it is applied in use. BIT BRACES.--These tools are now made with so many improved features that there is really no excuse for getting poor tools. The illustrations show merely the heads and the lower operating parts of the tools. Fig. 271 shows a metal-clad ball-bearing head, so called, as its under side is completely encased in metal securely screwed to the wood and revolving against the ball thrust bearing. D represents a concealed ratchet in which the cam ring governs the ratchet, and, being in line with the bit, makes it more convenient in handling than when it is at right angles. The ratchet parts are entirely enclosed, thus keeping out moisture and dirt, retaining lubrication and protecting the users' hands. The ratchet mechanism is interchangeable, and may be taken apart by removing one screw. The two-piece clutch, which is drop forged, is backed by a very strong spring, insuring a secure lock. When locked, ten teeth are in engagement, while five are employed while working at a ratchet. It has universal jaws (G) for both wood and metal workers. In Fig. 272, B represents a regular ball bearing head, with the wood screw on the large spindle and three small screws to prevent its working loose. This also has a ball thrust. E is the ratchet box, and this shows the gear teeth cut on the extra heavy spindle, and encased, so that the user's hands are protected from the teeth. The interlocking jaws (H), which are best for taper shanks, hold up to No. 2 Clark's expansion, and are therefore particularly adapted for carpenter's use. [Illustration: _Fig. 271. Fig. 272. Fig. 273. Types of Bit Braces._] In Fig. 273 the plain bearing head (C) has no ball thrust. The head is screwed on the spindle and held from turning off by two small screws. The open ratchet (F) shows the gear pinned to the spindle and exposed. This has alligator jaws (J), and will hold all ordinary size taper shank bits, also small and medium round shank bits or drills. [Illustration: _Fig. 274. Fig. 275. Fig. 276. Steel Frame Breast Drills._] STEEL FRAME BREAST DRILL.--These drills are made with both single and double speed, each speed having three varieties of jaws. The single speed is very high, the ratio being 4-1/2 to 1, which makes it desirable to use for small drills, or for use in wood. A level is firmly set in the frames of these tools to assist the user to maintain a horizontal position in boring. Each of the forms shown has a ball thrust bearing between the pinion and frame. The breast plate may be adjusted to suit and is locked by a set screw. The spindle is kept from turning while changing drills, by means of the latch mounted on the frame, and readily engaging with the pinion. The crank is pierced in three places so that the handle can be set for three different sweeps, depending on the character of the work. Figure 274 has a three jaw chuck, and has only single speed. Figure 275 has an interlocking jaw, and is provided with double speed gearing. Figure 276 has a universal jaw, and double speed. PLANES.--The most serviceable planes are made in iron, and it might be well to show a few of the most important, to bring out the manner employed to make the adjustments of the bits. In order to familiarize the boy with the different terms used in a plane, examine Figure 277. The parts are designated as follows: 1A is the double plane iron; 1 single plane iron; 2 plane iron cap; 3 cap screw; 4 lever cap; 5 lever cap screw; 6 frog complete; 7 Y adjusting lever; 8 adjusting nut; 9 lateral adjusting lever; 11 plane handle; 12 plane knob; 13 handle bolt and nut; 14 knob bolt and nut; 15 plane handle screw; 16 plane bottom; 44 frog pin; 45 frog clamping screw; 46 frog adjusting screw. [Illustration: _Fig. 277. Details of Metal Plane._] RABBETING, MATCHING AND DADO PLANES.--Figure 278 shows a useful form of plane for the reason that it is designed to receive a variety of irons, adapted to cut rabbets. The detached sections of Fig. 278 show the various parts, as well as the bits which belong to it. 1, 1 represent the single plane irons; 4 the lever cap; 16 the plane bottom, 50 the fence; 51 the fence thumb screw; 61 the short arm; 70 the adjustable depth gage; 71 the depth gage which goes through the screw; and 85 the spurs with screws. MOLDING AND BEADING PLANE.--A plane of the character shown in Fig. 279 will do an immense variety of work in molding, beading and dado work, and is equally well adapted for rabbeting, for filletsters and for match planing. The regular equipment with this tool comprises fifty-two cutters. [Illustration: _Fig. 278. Rabbet, Matching and Dado Plane._] As shown in Fig. 279, the plane has a main stock (A), which carries the cutter adjustment, a handle, a depth gage, a slitting gage, and a steel bottom forming a bearing for the other end of the cutter, and slides on arms secured to the main stock. This bottom can be raised or lowered, so that, in addition to allowing the use of cutters of different widths, cutters can be used having one edge higher or lower than the edge supported in the main stock. [Illustration: _Fig. 279. Molding and Beading Plane._] The auxiliary center bottom (C), which can be adjusted for width or depth, fulfils the requirement of preventing the plane from tilting and gouging the work. The fence D has a lateral adjustment by means of a screw, for extra fine work. The four small cuts in the corners show how the bottoms should be set for different forms of cutters, and the great importance of having the fences adjusted so that the cutters will not run. The samples of work illustrated show some of the moldings which can be turned out with the plane. [Illustration: _Fig. 280. Dovetail Tongue and Groove Plane._] DOVETAIL TONGUE AND GROOVE PLANE.--This is a very novel tool, and has many features to recommend it. Figure 280 shows its form, and how it is used. It is designed to make the dovetailed tongue as well as the groove. It will cut any size groove and tongues to fit with sides of twenty degrees flare, where the width of the neck is more than one-quarter of an inch thick, and the depth of the groove not more than three-quarters of an inch. The tongue and groove are cut separately, and can be made with parallel or tapering sides. The operation of the plane is very simple. [Illustration: _Fig. 281. Fig. 282. Router Planes._] ROUTER PLANES.--This is a type of plane used for surfacing the bottom of grooves or other depressions parallel with the general surface of the work. The planes are made in two types, one, like Fig. 281, which has a closed throat, and the other, Fig. 282, with an open throat. Both are serviceable, but the latter is preferable. These planes will level off bottoms of depression, very accurately, and the tool is not an expensive one. DOOR TRIM PLANE.--This is a tool for making mortises for butts, face plates, strike plates, escutcheons, and the like, up to a depth of 5/16, and a width of 3 inches. The principal feature in the plane is the method of mounting the cutter, which can be instantly set to work from either end of the plane or across it. [Illustration: _Fig. 283. Door Trim Plane._] The cutter, as shown in Fig. 283, is cushioned by a spring which prevents taking a heavier chip than can be easily carried. A fence regulates the position of the cut and insures the sides of the cut being parallel. The depth of the cut is governed by a positive stop. By removing the fence and locking the cutter post with the thumb screw, instead of using the spring, a very superior router plane is obtained. CHAPTER XIX ROOFING TRUSSES The chapter on Bridge Building gives some suggestions as to form of trusses, the particular types there shown being principally for wide spans. Such trusses were made for one purpose only, namely, to take great weight, and they were, as a consequence, so constructed as to provide strength. But a roofing truss, while designed to hold the accumulated materials, such as snow and ice, likely to be deposited there, is of such a design, principally, so as to afford means of ornamentation. This remark has reference to such types as dispense with the cross, or tie beam, which is the distinguishing feature in bridge building. The tie beam is also an important element in many types of trusses, where ornamentation is not required, or in such structures as have the roofed portion of the buildings enclosed by ceiling walls, or where the space between the roofs is used for storage purposes. In England, and on the Continent of Europe, are thousands of trusses structured to support the roofs, which are marvels of beauty. Some of them are bewildering in their formation. The moldings, beaded surfaces, and the carved outlines of the soffits, of the arches, and of the purlins, are wonderful in detail. The wooden roof of Westminster Hall, while very simple in structure, as compared with many others, looks like an intricate maze of beams, struts and braces, but it is, nevertheless, so harmonized that the effect is most pleasing to the eye, and its very appearance gives the impression of grandeur and strength. Nearly all of the forms shown herein have come down to us from mediæval times, when more stress was laid on wooden structures than at the present time, but most of the stone and metal buildings grew out of the wooden prototypes. Now the prime object of nearly all the double-roofed trusses was to utilize the space between the rafters so as to give height and majesty to the interior. A large dome is grand, owing to its great simplicity, but the same plain outlines, or lack of ornamentation, in the ceiling of a square or rectangular building would be painful to view, hence, the braces, beams, plates, and various supports of the roofed truss served as ornamental parts, and it is in this particular that the art of the designer finds his inspiration. Before proceeding to apply the matter of ornamentation, it might be well to develop these roof forms, starting with the old type Barn Roof, where the space between the rafters must be utilized for the storage of hay. [Illustration: _Fig. 284. Gambrel Roof._] _The Gambrel Roof_, Fig. 284, requires a tie beam, (A), as shown, but the space above the beam is free of all obstructions, and gives a large storage space. The roof has two sets of rafters (B, C), and of different pitch, the lower rafters (B) having a pitch of about 30 degrees, and the upper ones (C), about 45 degrees. A tie bar (D) joins the middle portion of each of the rafters (B, C) and another tie bar (E) joins the middle part of the rafter (B), and the supporting post (F). The cross tie beam (G) completes the span, and a little study will show the complete interdependence of one piece upon the other. [Illustration: _Fig. 285. Purlin Roof._] _The Purlin Roof_ is a type of structure used very largely throughout the United States, for wide barns. (A) is the cross beam; (B, B) the purlin posts; (C, C) the purlin plates; (D, D) the rafters; and (E, E) the supporting braces. The rafters (D) are in two sections, the distance from the eaves to the comb being too great for single length rafters, and the purlin plates are not designed to make what is called a "self-supporting" roof, but merely to serve as supports for the regular rafters. _The Princess Truss_, on the other hand, is designed to act as a support for the different lengths of rafters (A, B, C), and as a means for holding the roof. It is adapted for low pitch and wide spans. [Illustration: _Fig. 286. Princess Truss._] The main truss is made up of the cross beam (D), rafters (E, E) and thrust beam (F). Purlin posts (G, G) are placed at an angle intermediate the ends of the rafters, and the purlin plates (H, H) support the roof rafters (A, B, C); I, I are the vertical tie rods. This type is probably the oldest form of truss for building purposes, and it has been modified in many ways, the most usual modification being the substitution of posts for the tie rods (I, I). Following out the foregoing forms, we may call attention to one more type which permitted ornamentation to a considerable degree, although it still required the tie beam. In fact the tie beam itself was the feature on which the architect depended to make the greatest effect by elaborating it. This is shown in Fig. 287, and is called the _Arched_, or _Cambered, Tie Beam Truss_. It is a very old type, samples of which have been found which take it back to a very remote age. [Illustration: _Fig. 287. Arched, or Cambered, Tie Beam._] The tie beam A, in wide spans, was made in two sections, properly tied together, and sometimes the outer ends were very wide, and to add to the effect of the arch, it might also be raised in the middle, something in the form shown by the dotted line (B). _The Mansard_ is what may be called a double-mounted roof, and it will be seen how it was evolved from the preceding types. It will be noted that the simple truss formed by the members (A, B, C) is merely superposed on the leaning posts, the tie beam also being necessary in this construction. [Illustration: _Fig. 288. The Mansard._] But the most elaborate formations are those which were intended to provide trusses for buildings wherein the tie beams were dispensed with. The simplest form known is called the _Scissors Beam_, illustrated in Fig. 289. This has been utilized for small spaces, and steep pitches. Each rafter (A) has an angled beam or brace (B), springing from its base, to the opposite rafter (A), to which it is joined, midway between its ends, as at C. Where the two braces (B) cross each other they are secured together, as at D. As a result, three trusses are formed, namely, 1, 2, 3, and it possesses remarkable strength. [Illustration: _Fig. 289. Scissors Beam._] BRACED COLLAR BEAM.--This is a modification of the last type, but is adapted for thick walls only. The tie rod braces (A, A) have to be brought down low to give a good bracing action, and this arrangement is capable of considerable ornamentation. The steeper the pitch the higher up would be the inner and lower brace posts (B, B) which were supported by the top of the wall. This form is not available for wide spans, and is shown to illustrate how the development was made into the succeeding types. [Illustration: _Fig. 290. Braced Collar Beam._] THE RIB AND COLLAR TRUSS, Fig. 291, is the first important structural arrangement which permitted the architect to give full sway to embellishment. The inwardly-projecting members (A, A) are called _Hammer Beams_. They were devised as a substitute for the thick walls used in the Braced Collar Beam Truss, and small brackets (B, B) were placed beneath as supports. [Illustration: _Fig. 291. Rib and Collar Truss._] The short tie beam (C), near the apex, serves as the member to receive the thrust and stress of the curved ribs (D, D). It forms a most graceful type of roof, and is capable of the most exquisite ornamentation, but it is used for the high pitched roofs only. [Illustration: _Fig. 290-1/2. Hammer Beam Truss._] The acme of all constructions, in which strength, beauty, and capacity for ornamentation are blended, is the _Hammer Beam Truss_. Here the hammer beam projects inwardly farther than in the preceding figure, and has a deeper bracket (B), and this also extends down the pendant post (C) a greater distance. The curved supporting arch (D), on each side, is not ribbed, as in the Rib and Collar Truss, but instead, is provided with openwork (not shown herein), together with beadings and moldings, and other ornamental characteristics, and some of the most beautiful architectural forms in existence are in this type of roof. What are called Flying Buttresses (E) are sometimes used in connection with the Hammer Beam Truss, which, with heavy roofs and wide spans, is found to be absolutely necessary. CHAPTER XX ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF JOINTS In uniting two or more elements, some particular type of joint is necessary. In framing timbers, in making braces, in roof construction and supports, in floor beams, and in numerous other places, where strength is required, the workman should have at his command a knowledge of the most serviceable methods. Illustrations can most forcibly convey the different types; but the sizes must be determined by the character of the material you are working with. Our aim is to give the idea involved, and the name by which each is known. [Illustration: _Fig. 292. Bridle Joints._] Reference has been made in Chapter X, to certain forms of scarfing and lapping pieces. This chapter has to do with a variety of other structural forms, but principally with such as are used in heavy building work, and in cases where neither fish plates nor scarfing will answer the purpose. [Illustration: _Fig. 293. Spur Tenon._] [Illustration: _Fig. 294. Saddle Joints._] BRIDLE JOINTS.--This is a form of joint where permanency is not desired, and where it is necessary to readily seat or unseat the vertical timber. It is also obvious that the socket for the upright is of such a character that it will not weaken it to any great extent. SPUR TENON.--This tenon can be used in many places where the regular one is not available. This, like the preceding, is used where the parts are desired to be detachable, and the second form is one which is used in many structures. SADDLE JOINT.--This is still another manner in which a quickly detachable joint can be constructed. The saddle may be mounted on the main base, or cut into the base piece. An infinite variety of forms of saddles are made, most of them being used in dock work, and for framing of that character where large timbers are used, as in the building of coal chutes, and the like. [Illustration: _Fig. 295. Joggle Joints._] [Illustration: _Fig. 296. Framing Joints._] JOGGLE JOINT.--This joint is used almost exclusively for brace work where great weight must be supported. The brace has a tenon, and the end must also be so arranged that it will have a direct bearing against the upright, which it braces and supports, or it may have two faces, as in the second figure, which is an exceedingly strong construction. [Illustration: _Fig. 297. Heel Joints._] [Illustration: _Fig. 298. Stub Tenon._] FRAMING JOINTS.--These are the simplest form in which two members are secured together. They are used almost wholly in rafter work, and have very few modifications. The depth of the cut, for the toe of the rafter, depends on the load to be carried, and also on the distance the end of the rafter is from the end of the horizontal member on which the rafter rests. HEEL JOINTS.--This is by far the most secure of the framing type of joints. This, if properly made, is much better than the construction shown in the previous illustration, but the difficulty is to make the rafter fit into the recesses properly. This is no excuse for failure to use, but it is on account of inability to make close fits that is accountable for lack of use. It will be seen that in case one of the heels rests against the recess, and the others do not, and the pressure is great, there is a liability to tear out the entire joint. [Illustration: _Fig. 299. Tusk Tenon._] STUB TENON.--This is another form of tenon which is made and designed to be used where it is in close proximity to another tenon, or where the mortises, if made full size, will weaken the member. The long tusk can be shortened, to suit the place where it projects, and the stub tenon on each side of the tusk may be made very short, and one side longer than the other if necessary. TUSK TENON.--Two forms of tusk construction are given. Any number of forms have been devised, all for special purposes, and designed for different kinds of woods. These shown are particularly adapted for soft woods, and the principal feature that is valuable lies in the fact that they have a number of shoulders within the mortise, each of which, necessarily adds to the strength. It should be observed that in the construction of the tusk tenon, the greatest care must be taken to have it fit the mortise tightly, and this has reference to the bottom and shoulder ends as well. [Illustration: _Fig. 300. Double Tusk Tenon._] DOUBLE TUSK TENONS.--The distinguishing difference between this and the preceding is in the tusk, which in this form of construction goes through the upright member, and is held by a cross key. The double tusk is intended for hard woods, and it is regarded as the finest, as well as the strongest, joint known. COGGED JOINTS.--This differs from the regular tenoning and mortising methods, principally because the groove or recess is in the form of an open gain. It is used where the member is to be inserted after the main structure is put together. [Illustration: _Fig. 301. Cogged Joints._] [Illustration: _Fig. 302. Anchor Joint._] ANCHOR JOINT.--This form of connection is designed for very large timbers, and where great care must be taken in making the parts fit together nicely, as everything depends on this. This style is never used where the angles are less than 45 degrees, and the depth of the gain in the timber receiving the brace is dependent on the thrust of the brace. [Illustration: _Fig. 303. Deep Anchor Joint._] The Deep Anchor Joint is an extension of the tongue of the Anchor tenon, so that it affords a greater support for the end thrust. To clearly distinguish between this and the preceding form, it might be said that the Anchor Joint is one designed to protect the member containing the gains, while the Deep Anchor Joint favors the brace, by giving it a greater power. CHAPTER XXI SOME MISTAKES, AND A LITTLE ADVICE IN CARPENTRY In the mechanical arts, workers are as likely to learn from the mistakes committed as through correct information imparted. Advice, therefore, might be considered superfluous. But there are certain things which are easily remembered and may be borne in mind while engaged in turning out any work. This chapter is not given for the purpose of calling attention to all the errors which are so common, but merely to point out a few which the boy will commit as he tries to carry out his work for the first time. One of the difficult things for any one to learn, in working with wood, is to plane the edge of a board straight and square at the same time. This is made doubly difficult if it is desired to plane it strictly to dimensions. Usually before the edge is straight it is down to the proper width desired, and it is then too late to correct any error, because further work will make it too narrow. The whole difficulty is in the holding of the plane. It matters not how rigidly it is held, and how carefully it is guarded to veer it toward one side or the other, it will be found a most difficult task. If the fore, or finishing, plane is used, and which is the proper tool for the purpose, the impression seems to be, that to square up the edge and make it cut off a thicker shaving on one side than on the other, requires that the plane should be pressed down with force, so as to make it dig in and cut a thicker shaving. When this is resorted to the board is liable to get out of true from end to end. A much better plan is to put the plane on the edge of the board true and straight. If it is too high on the edge nearest you, bring the plane over so the inside edge is flush with the inside edge of the board. Then use the fingers of the left hand as a gage to keep the plane from running over. Now, the weight of the plane in such a condition is sufficient to take off a thicker shaving at the high edge, and this will be done without any effort, and will enable you to concentrate your thoughts on keeping the plane straight with the board. The weight of the plane will make a thicker shaving on one side than on the other, and correct inequalities, provided you do not attempt to force the plane. It requires an exceedingly steady hand to hold a plane firmly for squaring up a half-inch board. Singular as it may seem, it is almost as difficult a job with a two-inch plank. In the case of the thin board the plane will move laterally, unless the utmost care is exercised; in the truing up the thick plank the constant tendency is to move the plane along the surface at a slight diagonal, and this is sure to cause trouble. It only emphasizes the fact most clearly, that to do a good job the plane must be firmly held, that it must move along the board with the utmost precision, and that it should not be forced into the wood. In smoothing down a board with the short smoothing plane, preparatory to sandpapering it, the better plan is to move the plane slightly across the grain. This will enable the bit to take hold better, and when the sandpaper is applied the course of the movement should be across the grain opposite the direction taken by the smoothing plane. It is never satisfactory to draw the sandpaper directly along in the course of the grain. Such a habit will cause the sandpaper to fill up very rapidly, particularly with certain woods. When gluing together joints or tenons, always wipe off the surplus glue with warm water taken from the glue pot. If you do not follow this advice the glue will gum up the tools and the sandpaper used to finish the work. Never try to work from opposite sides of a piece of material. Have a _work side_ and a work _edge_, and make all measurements therefrom. Mark each piece as you go along. Take a note mentally just how each piece is to be placed, and what must be done with it. The carpenter, above all others, must be able to carry a mental picture of his product. Never saw out the scribing or marking line, either in cutting or in ripping. The lines should be obliterated by the plane, when it is being finished, and not before. Make it a habit to finish off the surfaces and edges true and smooth before the ends are cut, or the mortises or tenons are made. This is one of the most frequent mistakes. No job can be a perfect one unless your material has been worked down to proper dimensions. Learn to saw across a board squarely. This may be a hard thing for the novice to do. A long, easy stroke of the saw will prevent it from running, unless too badly set or filed, and will also enable you to hold it more nearly square with the board. If you find that you invariably saw "out of true," then take some sawing lessons for your own benefit, until you can judge whether the saw is held true or not. It is better to saw up a half dozen boards in making the test than commit the error while working on a job. GLOSSARY OF WORDS USED IN TEXT OF THIS VOLUME $Acute.$ Sharp, to the point. $Adjuster.$ A tool which measures distances and relative spaces. $�sthetic.$ The theory of taste; science of the beautiful in nature and art. $Abstract.$ That which exists in the mind only; separate from matter; to think of separately as a quality. $Alligator jaws.$ A term used to designate a pair of serrated bars which are held together in a headpiece, and capable of clamping bits between them. $Analyzed.$ Separated into its primitive or original parts. $Anchor.$ Any device for holding an object in a fixed position. $Angle dividers.$ A sort of double bevel tool so arranged that an angle can be made at the same time on both side of a base line. $Angularly disposed.$ Forming an angle with reference to some part or position. $Archivolt.$ The architectural member surrounding the curved opening of an arch. More commonly the molding or other ornaments with which the wall face of an arch is changed. $Artisan.$ One trained in some mechanic's art or trade. $Beaded.$ A piece of wood or iron having rounded creases on its surface. $Beam compass.$ A drawing compass in which the points are arranged to slide on a rod, instead of being fixed on dividers. $Belfry.$ A bell-tower, usually attached to a church. $Bevel square.$ A handle to which is pivotally attached a blade, which may be swung and held at any desired angle. $Bisected.$ To divide, mark, or cut into two portions. $Bit.$ A small tool, either for drilling, or for cutting, as a plane iron. $Braced collar.$ A form of roofing truss, in which the upper cross member is supported by a pair of angled braces. $Breast drill.$ A tool for holding boring tools, and designed to have the head held against the breast for forcing in the boring tool. $Bridle joint.$ A form for securing elements together which provides a shallow depression in one member, and a chamfered member at its end to fit therein. $Bungalow.$ A Bengalese term; originally a thatched or tiled house or cottage, single story, usually surrounded by a veranda. $Bushing.$ A substance of any kind interposed, as, for instance, a wearing surface between a mandrel and its bearing. $Butts.$ A term applied to certain hinges, usually of the large type. $Callipered.$ A measured portion which has its side or thickness fixed by a finely graduated instrument. $Cambered.$ Slightly rising in the middle portion. An upward bend, or projection. $Capital.$ A small head or top of a column; the head or uppermost member of a pilaster. $Cardinal.$ Pre-eminent, chief, main line; _Cardinal_ line is the principal line to make calculations or measurements from. $Centering point.$ A place for the reception of the point of an instrument, like a compass or a dividers, or for the dead center of the tail-stock of a lathe. $Cheekpiece.$ A piece or pieces at right angles to another piece, either fixed or movable, which serves as a rest or a guide. $Chiffonier.$ A movable and ornamental closet or piece of furniture with shelves and drawers. $Chute.$ A channel in any material, or made of any substance, for conveying liquids or solids. $Circumference.$ The distance around an object. $Circumferentially.$ Surrounding or encircling. $Classical.$ Relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. $Cogged.$ Having teeth, either at regular or at irregular intervals. $Concrete.$ Expressing the thing itself specifically; also the quality; a specific example. $Configuration.$ Form, as depending on the relative disposition of the parts of a thing; a shape or a figure. $Coincide.$ To occupy the same place in space; to correspond exactly; to agree; to concur. $Correlation.$ A reference, as from one thing to another; the putting together of various parts. $Conventional.$ Something which grows out of or depends upon custom, or is sanctioned by general usage. $Craftsman.$ One skilled in a craft or trade. $Curvature.$ The act of curving or being bent. $Concentrated.$ To bring to a common center; to bring together in one mass. $Dado.$ A plain flat surface between a base and a surbase molding. Sometimes a painted or encrusted skirting on interior walls. $Depth gage.$ A tool by means of which the depths of grooves and recesses are measured. $Degree.$ Measure of advancement; quality; extent; a division or space. $Discarded.$ Cast off; to reject or put away. $Deterioration.$ To grow worse; impairing in quality. $Depressed.$ A sunken surface or part. $Diagrammatical.$ A drawing made to illustrate the working or the scheme, without showing all the parts or giving their relative positions or measurements. $Diametrically.$ A direction toward the center or across the middle of a figure or thing. $Diagonal.$ A direction which is not parallel with or perpendicular to a line. $Dominate.$ To govern; controlling. $Door trim.$ The hardware which is attached to a door. $Double-roofed.$ All form of roof structure where there is an inner frame to support the rafters. $Drop forged.$ Metal forms which are struck up by means of heavy hammers, in which are the molds or patterns of the article to be formed. $Elaboration.$ Wrought with labor; finished with great care. $Elevation.$ The act of raising from a lower to a higher degree; a projection of a building or other object on a plane perpendicular to the horizon. $Elliptical.$ Having the form of an ellipse. $Embellishment.$ The act of adorning; that which adds beauty or elegance. $Entablature.$ The structure which lies horizontally upon the columns. $Equidistant.$ Being at an equal distance from a point. $Escutcheon.$ An ornamental plate like that part about a keyhole. $Evolve.$ To unfold or unroll; to open and expand. $Façade.$ The front of a building; the principal front having some architectural pretensions. $Facing-boards.$ The finishing of the face of a wall of different material than the main part of the wall; the wide board below the cornice or beneath the windows. $Factor.$ One of the elements, circumstances or influences which contribute to produce a result. $Fence.$ A term used to designate a metal barrier or guard on a part of a tool. $Fish plate.$ A pair of plates, usually placed on opposite sides of the pieces to be secured together, and held by cross bolts. $Flare.$ A pitch; an angle; an inclination. $Flush.$ Unbroken, or even in surface; on a level with the adjacent surface. $Frog clamping screw.$ A screw which is designed to hold or adjust two angled pieces. $Fulcrum.$ That by which a lever is sustained, or on which a lever rests in turning or moving a body. $Fluting.$ The channel or channels in a body; as the grooves in a column. $Gain.$ A square or beveled notch or groove cut out of a girder, beam, post or other material, at a corner. $Gambrel.$ A roof having two different pitches, the upper much greater than the lower. $Geometry.$ Pertaining to that branch of mathematics which investigates the relations, properties and measurements of solids, surfaces, lines and angles. $Girder.$ A main beam; a straight horizontal beam to span an opening or carry a weight, such as the ends of floor beams. $Glossary.$ A collection or explanation of words and passages of the works of an author; a partial dictionary. $Graduated.$ Cut up into steps; divided into equal parts. $Guide stock.$ A member which is the main portion of the tool, and from which all measurements are taken. $Hammer beam.$ A member in a truss roof structure, at the base of the roof proper, which consists of an inwardly projecting part, on which the roof rests, and from which it is braced. $Hammer-pole.$ The peon, or round end of a hammer which is used for driving nails. $Hemispherical.$ Pertaining to a half globe or sphere. $Horizontal.$ On the level; at right angles to a line which points to the center of the earth. $Incorporated.$ United in one body. $Index pin.$ A small movable member which is designed to limit the movement of the operative part of a machine. $Initial.$ To make a beginning with; the first of a series of acts or things. $Insulate.$ To place in a detached position; to separate from. $Interchangeable.$ One for the other. $Interval.$ A space between things; a void space; between two objects. $Interest.$ To engage the attention of; to awaken or attract attention. $Interlocking jaw.$ Two or more parts of a piece of mechanism in which the said parts pass each other in their motions. $Intersection.$ The point or line in which one line or surface cuts another. $Intervening.$ The portion between. $Inverted.$ Turned over; to put upside down. $Joggle-joint.$ A form of connection which has struts attached to a pendant post. $Joinery.$ The art or trade of joining wood. $Kerf.$ A notch, channel or slit made in any material by cutting or sawing. $Kit.$ A working outfit; a collection of tools or implements. $Level.$ A tool designed to indicate horizontal or vertical surfaces. $Liberal.$ Not narrow or contracted. $Lobe.$ Any projection, especially of a rounded form; the projecting part of a cam-wheel. $Longitudinal.$ In the direction of the length; running lengthwise. $Lubrication.$ The system of affording oiling means to a machine or to any article. $Mandrel.$ The live spindle of a lathe; the revolving arbor of a circular saw. $Mansard.$ A type of roof structure with two pitches, one, the lower, being very steep, and the other very flat pitch. $Manual.$ Of or pertaining to the hand; done or made by hand. $Marginal.$ The border or edge of an object. $Marking gage.$ A bar on which is placed a series of points, usually equidistant from each other. $Matching.$ Placing tongue in one member and a corresponding groove in another member, so that they will join each other perfectly. $Mediæval.$ Of or relating to the Middle Ages. $Miter-box.$ A tool for the purpose of holding a saw true at any desired adjustable angle. $Miter-square.$ A tool which provides adjustment at any desired angle. $Mullion.$ A slender bar or pier which forms the vertical division between the lights of windows, screens, etc.; also, indoors, the main uprights are _stiles_, and the intermediate uprights are _mullions_. $Obliterated.$ Erased or blotted out. $Obtuse.$ Not pointed; bent. $Orbit.$ The path made by a heavenly body in its travel around another body. $Ordinate.$ The distance of any point in a curve or a straight line, measured on a line called the _axis of ordinates,_ or on a line parallel to it from another line, at right angles thereto, called the _axis of abscissas_. $Ornamentation.$ To embellish; to improve in appearance. $Oscillate.$ To swing like a pendulum. $Overhang.$ In a general sense that which projects out. $Paneling.$ A sunken compartment or portion with raised margins, molded or otherwise, as indoors, ceilings wainscoting, etc. $Parallelogram.$ A right-lined quadrilateral figure, whose opposite sides are parallel and, consequently, equal. $Parallel.$ Extended in the same direction, and in all parts equally distant. $Perspective.$ A view; a vista; the effect of distance upon the appearance of objects, by means of which the eye recognizes them as being at a more or less measurable distance. $Pivot.$ A fixed pin, or short axis, on the end of which a wheel or other body turns. $Pitch.$ Slope; descent; declivity, like the slope of a roof. $Placement.$ The act of placing; in the state of being placed. $Predominate.$ To be superior in number, strength, influence or authority; controlling. $Produced.$ To lengthen out; to extend. $Prototype.$ The original; that from which later forms sprang. $Purlin.$ A longitudinal piece of timber, under a roof, midway between the eaves and comb, to hold the rafters. $Rabbeting.$ The manner of cutting grooves or recesses. $Ratchet.$ A wheel, bar, or other form of member, having teeth or recesses. Rebate. A rectangular, longitudinal recess or groove, cut in the corner or edge of a body. $Rail.$ A horizontal piece in a frame or paneling. $Rectangular.$ Right-angled; having one or more angles of ninety degrees; a four-sided figure having only right angles. $Rib and collar.$ A form of roof truss in which the collar between rafters is used as the thrust bearing for the ribs which project up from the hammer beam. $Router.$ A tool for cutting grooves or recesses. $Saddle joint.$ A form of connection in which one part has a portion cut away, resembling a saddle, and in which the part to be attached has its end cut so as to fit the saddle thus formed. $Scarfing.$ The cutting away of the ends of timbers to be joined, so the two parts on lapping will unite evenly. $Scissors beam.$ A form of truss, in which there is a pair of interior braces formed like shears, and secured to the main rafters themselves. $Score, Scored.$ Shear; cut; divide; also notching or marking. $Scratch awl.$ A sharp-pointed tool, with a handle. $Scribe.$ To cut, indent or mark with a tool, such as a knife, awl or compass, so as to form a cutting line for the workman. $Self-supporting.$ Held by itself; not depending upon outside aid. $Shank.$ Usually the handle, or portion to which the handle is attached. $Slitting gage.$ A tool which is designed to cut along a certain line guided by an adjustable fence. $Soffit.$ The under side of an arch. $Solid.$ Not hollow; full of matter; having a fixed form; hard; opposed to liquid or fluid. $Spindle.$ A small mandrel; an arbor; a turning shaft. $Springer.$ The post or point at which an arch rests upon its support, and from which it seems to spring. $Sphere.$ A body or space continued under a single surface which, in every part, is equally distant from a point within called its center. $Spur.$ A small part jutting from another. $Strike plate.$ A plate serving as a keeper for a beveled latch bolt and against which the latter strikes in closing. $Steel Tubing.$ Pipes made from steel; tubing is measured across from outside to outside; piping is measured on the inside. $Step-wedge.$ A wedge having one straight edge, and the other edge provided with a succession of steps, by means of which the piece gradually grows wider. $Strain, Stresses.$ To act upon in any way so as to cause change of form or volume; as forces on a beam to bend it. $Strut.$ Any piece of timber which runs from one timber to another, and is used to support a part. $Stub.$ A projecting part, usually of some defined form, and usually designed to enter or engage with a corresponding recess in another member. $Submerged.$ To be buried or covered, as with a fluid; to put under. $Swivel.$ A pivoted member, used in many forms of tools, in which one part turns on the other. $Tail-stock.$ The sliding support or block in a lathe, which carries the dead spindle, or adjustable center. $Technical.$ Of or pertaining to the useful in mechanical arts, or to any science, business, or the like. $Texture.$ The disposition of the several parts of any body in connection with each other; or the manner in which the parts are united. $Tool rest.$ That part of a lathe, or other mechanism, which supports a tool, or holds the tool support. $Torso.$ The human body as distinguished from the head and limbs. $Transverse.$ In a crosswise direction; lying across; at right angles to the longitudinal. $Trimmer.$ A beam, into which are framed the ends of headers in floor framing, as when a hole is left for stairs, chimneys, and the like. $Truss.$ An assemblage of members of wood or iron, supported at two points, and arranged to transmit pressure vertically to those points with the least possible strain, across the length of any member. $Tusk.$ In mechanism, a long projecting part, longer than a tenon, and usually applied to the long or projecting part of a tenon. $Universal joint.$ A joint wherein one member is made to turn with another, although the two turning members are not in a line with each other. $Vocation.$ Employment; trade; profession; business. $Voissoir.$ One of the wedgelike stones of which an arch is composed. THE "HOW-TO-DO-IT" BOOKS CARPENTRY FOR BOYS A book which treats, in a most practical and fascinating manner, all subjects pertaining to the "King of Trades"; showing the care and use of tools; drawing; designing, and the laying out of work; the principles involved in the building of various kinds of structures, and the rudiments of architecture. It contains over two hundred and fifty illustrations made especially for this work, and includes also a complete glossary of the technical terms used in the art. The most comprehensive volume on this subject ever published for boys. * * * * * ELECTRICITY FOR BOYS The author has adopted the unique plan of setting forth the fundamental principles in each phase of the science, and practically applying the work in the successive stages. It shows how the knowledge has been developed, and the reasons for the various phenomena, without using technical words so as to bring it within the compass of every boy. 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36936	----	[Illustration] LECTURES ON VENTILATION: BEING A COURSE DELIVERED IN THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE, OF PHILADELPHIA, DURING THE WINTER OF 1866-67. BY LEWIS W. LEEDS, Special Agent of the Quartermaster-General, for the Ventilation of Government Hospitals during the War; and Consulting Engineer of Ventilation and Heating for the U. S. Treasury Department. =Man's own breath is his greatest enemy.= NEW YORK: JOHN WILEY & SON, PUBLISHERS, 2 Clinton Hall, Astor Place. 1869. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by LEWIS W. LEEDS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. New York Printing Company, 81, 83, _and_ 85 _Centre Street_, New York. PREFACE. These Lectures were not originally written with any view to their publication; but as they were afterwards requested for publication in the Journal of the Franklin Institute, and there attracted very favorable notice, I believed the rapidly increasing interest in the subject of ventilation would enable the publishers to sell a sufficient number to pay the expense of their publication; and, if so, that this very spirit of inquiry which would lead to the perusal of even so small a work, might be one step forward towards that much-needed more general education on this important subject. It was not my desire to give an elaborate treatise on the subject of ventilation. I believed a few general principles, illustrated in a familiar way, would be much more likely to be read; and, I hoped, would act as seed-grain in commencing the growth of an inquiry which, when once started in the right direction, would soon discover the condition of the air we breathe to be of so much importance that the investigation would be eagerly pursued. L. W. L. CONTENTS. LECTURE I. Philadelphia a healthy city--Owing to the superior ventilation of its houses--But the theory of ventilation still imperfectly understood--About forty per cent. of all deaths due to foul air--The death rate for 1865--Expense of unnecessary sickness--In London--In Massachusetts--In New York--In Philadelphia--Consumption the result of breathing impure air--Entirely preventable--Infantile mortality--Report on warming and ventilating the Capitol--Copies of various tables therefrom--Carbonic acid taken as the test, but not infallible--The uniform purity of the external atmosphere--Illustrated by the city of Manchester--Overflowed lands unhealthy--Air of Paris, London and other cities--Carbonic acid in houses--Here we find the curse of foul air--Our own breath is our greatest enemy--Scavengers more healthy than factory operatives--Wonderful cures of consumption by placing the patients in cow stables--City buildings prevent ventilation, consequently are unhealthy--The air from the filthiest street more wholesome than close bed-room air--Unfortunate prejudice against night air--Dr. Franklin's opinion of night air--Compared with the instructions of the Board of Health, 1866--Sleeping with open windows--Fire not objectionable--A small room ventilated is better than a large room not ventilated--Illustration--Fresh air at night prevents cholera--Illustrated by New York workhouse--Dr. Hamilton's report--Night air just as healthy as day air--Candle extinguished by the breath--The breath falls instead of rises--Children near the floor killed first--Physicians' certificates do not state "killed by foul air"--Open fire-places are excellent ventilators--All fire-boards should be used for kindling wood--Illustration showing when ceiling ventilation is necessary. PAGE 3 LECTURE II. The effect produced by heat upon the movements of air--Air a real substance--Exerts a pressure of fifteen tons on an ordinary sized man--It cannot be moved without the expenditure of power--The sun's rays the great moving power--They pass through the forty-five miles of atmosphere without heating it, and heat the solid substances of the earth's surface--Experiments showing the effect of radiant heat and reflected heat--The air of the room not pure and dry--The ordinary moisture absorbs from fifty to seventy times as much as the air--Many gases absorb much more--The moisture in the air the great regulator of heat--Air is heated by coming in immediate contact with hotter substances--Impossibility of any air remaining at rest--The practical application of these principles--The open fire acts like the sun, heating by radiation only--Probable electric or ozonic change in furnace-heated air--The stove heats both by radiation and circulation--The stove nor the open fire not suitable for large crowded rooms--Circulating warmed air best--Erroneous views in regard to ventilation--Experiments with liquids of different densities--When warming and ventilating by circulating air, the escape for the used air should be from the bottom of the room--But when ventilating with cooler air the escape should be from the top of the room--Windows should lower from the top and flues open at the bottom of the room--The fashionable system of heating by direct radiation, without any fresh air, very objectionable. PAGE 18 LECTURE III. One breath of impure air shortens our life--Difficulty of getting pure air to breathe in houses and cars--Foul air in steam cars--Want of the proper knowledge regarding ventilation among all classes--Want of ventilation in this lecture room--Want of ventilation in the Cooper Institute, and in many other new and splendid buildings--Street cars very foul--My own chamber fully ventilated--I have no new patent idea, sufficient for all time without further thought--Constantly varying conditions require separate intelligent thought and action--The air moves horizontally in summer--Flues are then of no account--We must depend on open doors and windows--How to ventilate a sick room in the morning--The same in the evening--Windows should always lower from the top--To make air move in the summer is the great desideratum--When in motion the cold air falls and warm air rises; when at rest, it is arranged in horizontal layers, according to temperature--A flue is simply a passage for air of different temperatures--Experiments with flues of different temperatures--Expansion of air by heat--Weight required to keep it from expanding--Heating air weakens it instead of giving it power--Experiments showing draughts by lighted candles--Ventilation of churches--Illustrations not exaggerated--Examination of church in neighborhood--Fresh air taken from foul cellar--No fresh air supplied to churches used as hospitals in Washington--Depending on a sham ventilator painted on the solid wall--Foul air in Philadelphia schools--New York public schools--Many of the ventilators perfect shams--Covered up air-tight by the capping stones--Importance of the evaporation of water--A strong fire in basement will draw gas out of second story stove--A strong fire up stairs will draw foul gases from untrapped sewers--A very healthy location may thus be made very unhealthy--Drs. Palmer, Ford and Earle's report of epidemic at Maple Wood Institute--An arrangement for ventilation that ought to be in every house--Flues generally too small, especially in Philadelphia--Very large ones put in government hospitals, which proved thoroughly efficient--The leading points in regard to heating--The fresh air must be warmed before entering in winter--A hot water furnace requires additional moisture--Heating by steam--Steam-pipes ought to be laid through the street the same as gas and water--Two-thirds of heating surface should be for heating the fresh air and one third for direct radiation--Forty pounds of water required to be evaporated every minute for U. S. Senate Chamber--All stoves should have fresh-air boxes--Dampers in fresh air-boxes not good--Experience has fully demonstrated that careful attention to these things will be amply rewarded by increased health, strength, happiness and longevity. PAGE 31 Article relating to the Grand Prize awarded to Hospital Ventilation and other Sanitary arrangements, Paris Exhibition. PAGE 51 LECTURES ON VENTILATION. LECTURE I. Philadelphia is one of the healthiest cities in the United States, and, in proportion to the number of its inhabitants, few more healthy cities exist in the world. This is not owing especially to its more salubrious situation, but should be attributed, in a great measure, to the accidental superiority of the ventilation of a large proportion of its dwelling-houses. Notwithstanding this comparative excellence, the theory of ventilation is not so thoroughly understood, nor is the practice so perfect, even in this city, that no advantage can be gained by further knowledge upon the subject. Far from it. From the very best information we can command, and with the most accurate statistics at our disposal, we are forced to the conclusion that about forty per cent. of all the deaths that are constantly occurring are due to the influence of foul air. The Registrar of Records of New York gives nearly half the deaths in that city as resulting from this cause. The deaths in this city for 1865, according to the report of the Board of Health, were seventeen thousand one hundred and sixty-nine; the average age of those who died was between twenty-three and twenty-four years. It ought to have been twice that, as shown by some districts in the city and also in the country, where the houses are so arranged that they frequently have good ventilation. Taking the deaths caused by foul air at a very low estimate, say forty per cent. of the whole, (the per centage from that cause is not so great as in New York,) we have six thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight deaths in this city, caused alone by impure air, in one year. It is estimated by physicians that there are from twenty-five to thirty days of sickness to every death occurring; there would therefore be something like two hundred thousand days of sickness annually as an effect of foul air. We all know how very expensive sickness is, but few persons realize the enormous aggregate expense of unnecessary sickness in a city like Philadelphia.[1] This subject has awakened much interest in Europe of late years, and has led to the expenditure of immense sums of money, for the purpose of improving the sanitary condition of its cities. Dr. Hutchinson estimated the loss to the city of London, growing out of preventable deaths and sickness, at twenty millions of dollars annually, and Mr. Mansfield estimates the loss from this cause to the United Kingdom at two hundred and fifty millions of dollars. In the single State of Massachusetts, an estimate exhibits an annual loss of over sixty millions of dollars by the premature death of persons over fifteen years of age. It is estimated that a few only of the principal items of expense incurred by preventable sickness in the city of New York amount to over five millions of dollars annually. And if it is thought that Philadelphia is exempt from such enormous unnecessary expense, just glance at the report of the Board of Health for last year, and see how the deaths from disease of the lungs largely exceed those from any other disease. Consumption is almost entirely the result of breathing impure air,--it is as preventable by the exclusive use of pure air as _maniaa potuor_ drunkenness is by the exclusive use of pure water. And see, too, what slaughter among the innocents--over twenty-five per cent. of the whole deaths were under one year of age. The infantile mortality is by many considered the most delicate sanitary test. But why does such an intelligent community as this so neglect its own interest? They have listened to and satisfied the first imperative demands of nature--shelter from the elements and warmth,--and in doing this they have not brought into use that much higher order of intellect which can alone teach them how to supply, in connection with an agreeable warmth, an abundance of pure air in their otherwise air-tight houses. I have been much interested in examining a large collection of tables of the analysis of air, which accompany a report to Congress, on "Warming and Ventilating the Capitol," prepared by Thomas U. Walter, Professor Henry and Dr. Wetherill. These tables were made by men of various nations, giving the results of their analysis of air taken from all manner of places, from great elevations on the mountains and in balloons, from the valleys, from the centre of the ocean, and from the middle of the continent, in cities and in the country, in winter and in summer, at night and in the day, and also the comparative analysis of the air _out of doors and in houses_. Believing that these would be of much interest and assistance to us in the investigation of the subject under consideration, I have had copies made of some of the most interesting. These give the per centage of carbonic acid in the air as the test of the amount of impurities in it. This is not an infallible test by any means--there are various other causes of deterioration. There is the exhaustion of the oxygen constantly occurring to support combustion and animal life; there are various other deleterious products of combustion and respiration besides carbonic acid. But, as carbonic acid is always found in certain known proportions in pure air, and is always formed in certain known quantities by respiration or combustion, it is considered by many to give a very fair indication of the condition of the atmosphere with reference to its influence on animal life or combustion. I think one of the most valuable lessons to be learned by the study of these tables is the uniform purity of the external atmosphere all over the world, even in large cities. This is strikingly illustrated in the case of the analysis of the air in the city of Manchester. We have nothing in this country like that city, where two millions of tons of coal are burned annually, the smoke from which fills the air and stretches like a black cloud far into the country. Thus, added to the five hundred tons of carbonic acid thrown from the lungs of its animal life every day, are many times that amount, (some two thousand tons,) daily, pouring out from its forest of factory chimneys. To this city were the labors of the "Health of Towns Commission" first directed, to see if they could not find in the air of its streets that mysterious influence that has caused such alarm throughout the civilized world, as the thoughtful and intelligent sanitarian sees one-half of all his fellow-citizens hurried to untimely graves. They were disappointed, and well might Dr. Smith exclaim, after the most thorough and careful investigations, "How insignificant are the works of art in contaminating that vast ocean of air that is constantly sweeping over the surface of the earth!" But do not be discouraged: more recent investigations have discovered the whereabouts of this pestilential breath. I have placed the table of Dr. Angus Smith's analysis of the air of Manchester at the head of the list, and have copied it complete, because it is the only table that I have examined of the analysis of the air of towns in Europe or North America, in which there occurs an amount of carbonic acid exceeding ten parts in ten thousand. Here we see three such cases in the twenty-eight experiments, one ten, one twelve and one fifteen. The average of the whole is also greater than in any other similar tables, being about seven and a half parts in ten thousand. This is certainly quite a perceptible contamination, pure air containing four or four and a half parts in ten thousand. Yet considerable as this appears in this view, the additional amount of carbonic acid is only the proportion that would be added to the air, if unchanged, of a room fifteen feet square and ten feet high, by a father, mother and three children, with a gas-light, in seven minutes. And this, probably, is the highest average contamination that is produced by artificial means upon the air of any city in the world. There are, of course, great natural causes which affect the air of whole countries, such as the decomposition of great masses of vegetable matter similar to that occurring on the low flat lands along rivers, especially where they overflow their banks, like the Ohio and Mississippi. The best system of ventilation, as applicable to this kind of foul air, is to keep as far out of its reach as possible. The other tables giving the analysis of the air of London, Paris, Madrid, Geneva, Bolton, England, at different elevations on the mountains, on the Atlantic Ocean, Washington City and various other places, are interesting only because they show so great a uniformity in the carbonic acid, seldom exceeding six parts to the ten thousand, and seldom under four. But now let us look upon the other side of the room. Here we have tables giving the "carbonic acid in houses." Here we will find very different results. But the first is a green-house; in that there is no trace of carbonic acid in the evening and scarcely a trace in the morning. Plants, you know, absorb the carbonic acid, and give off oxygen, while animals absorb the oxygen and give off carbonic acid, thus keeping up the equilibrium in nature, as is so beautifully shown in the aquarium. Plants are generally supposed to give off carbonic acid at night, but it must be in very small quantities. I consider them very conducive to health in a living-room, morally and physically. But this want of carbonic acid does not last long. The next is M. Dumas' lecture-room. At commencement of lecture 42·5, and at close of lecture 67 parts in ten thousand. Now, I think we are on the right track for discovering that mysterious poison that has carried so many of our friends to their graves, even in the very prime of life. Here we have dormitories, 52; do., 37; asylum, 17; school-room, 30; do., 56; Chamber of Deputies, 16; Opera Comique, parterre, 15; do., ceiling, 28; stable, 7; do., 14; hospital, Madrid, 30; do., do., 43; air of bed-room on rising in the morning, 48; the same after being ventilated two hours, 16; railroad car, 34; workshop, Munich, 19; full room, do., 22; lecture-room, 32; beer-saloon, 49; and worst of all is a well-filled school-room, 72 parts of carbonic acid in 10,000. That, I think, is enough. Here we have the solution of the whole mystery. It is not in the external atmosphere that we must look for the greatest impurities, but it is in our own houses that the blighting, withering curse of foul air is to be found. We are thus led to the conclusion that _our own breath is our greatest enemy_. The "Health of Towns Commission," in their investigations, after examining various trades, where the employees were confined mostly in houses, and having left the scavengers to the last, expecting to find a rich harvest of mortality among them, were much surprised to find them more healthy than many very clean occupations, but which were conducted in houses instead of in the open air. I have not the statistics before me, but I should not be surprised to learn that that singular race of beings that live in the sewers of Paris were as healthy, if not even more so, than the operatives of some of those exquisitely beautiful, clean, air-tight factories of New England. There was quite an account made a few years ago of the wonderful cures of consumption that had been performed by the patient being removed to the stable where he could be in close proximity to the cow, and I have no doubt many consumptive patients would find great benefit by such a course of treatment, not that there is any virtue in the smell of the cow, but that the air of the cow-stable would be nearer pure than that of their own chamber. Many go or send their families to the country in summer to get fresh air. Some go to the sea-side, others to the mountains; but there ensues a greater change in a few minutes in a close bed-room by being occupied by a family than there is difference between the external air of any city and that of the country. The reason why cities are so much more unhealthy than the country, is not because the air in the street is so much more impure, but because the houses are so built together that this vast ocean of air cannot get at and through them to purify them as it does in the houses in the country, and the reason why Philadelphia is so much more healthy than its neighbor, New York, is because the houses here are built more like those of the country, so that the air can sweep all around them, and sometimes through them. I therefore believe, that a family living in the filthiest street in our city, if they were careful to have a constant current of air from that street, filthy as it was, passing through the house at all times, night and day, would be more healthy, other things being equal, than a family spending their winters in the finest house, if kept air-tight, in the healthiest location in the city, and their summer in the country, especially if they were always careful to exclude the _night air_ from their bed-rooms. I say "night air;"--there is, unfortunately, an unnecessary prejudice against what is termed night air, which means, I suppose, fresh external air from the dark. To show that this is not a new idea, I will read a few lines from the writings of a very accurate reasoner and an eminently practical mechanic and philosopher, one whom I consider even now one of the very best authorities upon the subject of heating and ventilation. I mean the illustrious man after whom this Institute was named, Benjamin Franklin. In his letter to Dr. Ingenhaus, physician to the Emperor, at Vienna, he says: * * * * "for some are as much afraid of fresh air as persons in the hydrophobia are of fresh water. I myself had formerly this prejudice--this _aerophobia_, as I now account it,--and dreading the supposed dangerous effects of cool air, I considered it an enemy, and closed with extreme care every crevice in the rooms I inhabited. Experience has convinced me of my error. I now look upon fresh air as a friend: I even sleep with an open window. I am persuaded that no common air from without is so unwholesome as the air within a close room that has been often breathed and not changed. Moist air, too, which I formerly thought pernicious, gives me now no apprehensions; for considering that no dampness of air applied to the outside of my skin can be equal to what is applied to and touches it within, my whole body being full of moisture, and finding I can lie two hours in a bath twice a week, covered with water, which certainly is much damper than any air can be, and this for years together, without catching cold, or being in any other manner disordered by it, I no longer dread mere moisture, either in air, or in sheets or shirts; and I find it of importance to the happiness of life, the being freed from vain terrors, especially of objects that we are every day exposed inevitably to meet with. "You physicians have of late happily discovered, after a contrary opinion had prevailed some ages, that fresh and cool air does good to persons in the small-pox and other fevers. It is to be hoped, that in another century or two we may all find out that it is not bad even for people in health. And as to moist air, here I am at this present writing in a ship with above forty persons, who have had no other but moist air to breathe for six weeks past; everything we touch is damp, and nothing dries, yet we are all as healthy as we should be on the mountains of Switzerland, whose inhabitants are not more so than those of Bermuda or St. Helena, islands on whose rocks the waves are dashed into millions of particles, which fill the air with damp, but produce no diseases, the moisture being pure, unmixed with the poisonous vapors arising from putrid marshes and stagnant pools, in which many insects die and corrupt the water. These places only, in my opinion, (which, however, I submit to yours,) afford unwholesome air; and that it is not the mere water contained in damp air, but the volatile particles of corrupted animal matter mixed with that water, which renders such air pernicious to those who breathe it; and I imagine it a cause of the same kind that renders the air in close rooms, where the perspirable matter is breathed over and over again by a number of assembled people, so hurtful to health. "After being in such a situation many people find themselves affected by that _febricula_, which the English alone call a _cold_, and, perhaps, from that name, imagine they have caught the malady by _going out_ of the room, when it was, in fact, by being in it." Now, to show that his hopes have not yet been fully realized, although one century has nearly closed since he wrote what I have just read, and this unnecessary and unfortunate prejudice against night air still prevails extensively, I will read a few lines from the highest public medical authority in this city. It is the instructions of the Board of Health for the prevention of cholera for 1866: ARTICLE--"VENTILATION." "Your premises, particularly sleeping apartments and cellars, should be thoroughly ventilated. Ventilation is no less a purifier than water. "It cleanses by oxidizing and drying. Keep your houses open and your windows hoisted during the day in good weather, and from ten o'clock until four in the afternoon, that they may have the full benefit of sunlight and free circulation of pure air. _During the remaining hours of the day, and through the night, keep the windows closed._ When the weather is cool or rainy, be sure to keep a fire in the house, in order to prevent dampness, or in sparsely settled neighborhoods, or in the suburbs of the city, have a fire in the house the entire season." On page 9 we read: "Be careful to dress comfortably for the season, _avoid the night air_ as much as possible, and when thus exposed, put on an extra garment and do not go into _the night air_ when in a state of perspiration." Thus, while recognizing the great value and importance of ventilation in a general way, they give the most definite instructions for thoroughly and most effectually preventing it, because it is at night, especially when we are asleep and _cannot move from the air, that the air ought to be moved from us_. The frequent recommendations to avoid "night air" are simply recommendations to smother ourselves to death, because the foul, poisonous exhalations from our lungs cannot be removed from our chambers without being replaced by night air; there is no other fresh air at night but night air. The recommendation to build a fire in the house on cool days, and in low marshy districts every day in the year, is an excellent one. The recommendations to dress warmly and to avoid checking a perspiration suddenly, are valuable suggestions and too much attention cannot be paid to them. But they are of equally great importance in reference to day air as to night air. To shelter oneself from the sudden change of temperature after sundown is an animal instinct, and a very necessary one, which is strongly implanted in man and beast alike. The harm comes from the fact of so intelligent and intellectual a body as the Board of Health of Philadelphia encouraging the accomplishment of this very desirable object, by thwarting that great universal law of our Creator, the ceaseless agitation of the air by which it purifies itself, (and by which perversion of nature's laws millions are already being killed unnecessarily every year,) instead of their encouraging its accomplishment in that much more healthy and rational way by adding more clothing or more fuel to the fire, and still continuing to breathe the pure air at night as well as in the day-time. I have practised for many years sleeping with my windows open every night, summer and winter, allowing the unobstructed breeze to flow across my bed, to the great improvement of my health and strength. There is no objection in a well ventilated room to having a fire if desired. A small room with a hot stove or open fire and the windows open, is much more wholesome than a large air-tight room freezing cold. Let us illustrate this by a simple experiment. Here we have a very small tube, in which we place a lighted candle, occupying nearly the entire space--this burns brightly, you see. [Illustration: Fig. 1.] Here we have another glass chamber, much handsomer and twenty times as large; we also place a similar candle in it, that burns with equal brightness, but watch them both for a few moments--see how rapidly this light in the large chamber diminishes in size. [Illustration: Fig. 2.] That represents, in a beautiful manner, the diminished force of your life in an air-tight room. There it goes--entirely extinguished by foul air in so short a time, but the other continues to burn just as brightly as when first lighted. The smaller one had the window open, so to speak; we will imagine the candle in the large chamber to be a consumptive patient who thought the room so large he did not need the windows open. Remember, therefore, that no matter how small your room is, if there is a constant circulation of fresh air through it, the lamp of your life will burn brightly; but if ever so large and air-tight, your life will soon be extinguished. Instead of averting the cholera by avoiding fresh air at night, the experience of the last summer seems to have taught us just the contrary; for whilst most physicians admit that they are still unable to explain satisfactorily, the cause or remedy for this most mysterious disease, that has within a lifetime carried its fifty millions of victims from time to eternity, they almost universally believe it is a foul air poison, and they have as yet found no surer prevention than pure air. One of the most striking illustrations of this, and perhaps one of the most wonderful cures of cholera on record, was that of the New York Workhouse on Blackwell's Island. It lasted only nine days, but in that brief period one hundred and twenty-three out of eight hundred inmates died. I visited the building with Dr. Hamilton, on the third day after its appearance, but the hospital then contained sixty or seventy patients, and some twenty-five or thirty had died within twenty-four hours. Dr. Hamilton attributed the rapid propagation and fatality of the disease, after it once had gained admission, mainly to confinement and crowding. It was observed that the cholera was confined, for several days, among the women; the women had the smallest apartments, were most crowded in their cells, and with few exceptions, were employed within the building, in close contact with each other during the day. The men were employed mostly in the quarries and out of doors. The doctor's prescription on that occasion is worth studying. It is very short and simple, however. A slight change was made in the diet; disinfectants were used; fifteen drops of the tincture of capsicum with an ounce of whisky, as a stimulant at night, was all the medicine given to each individual. But the great means the doctor relied upon for success, was pure air all the time. They were kept out of doors from morning until night, and all the windows were kept open night and day; and although in the hot weather of summer, fire was made in the wards, to insure more perfect ventilation. In six days after the initiation of these simple hygienic measures, the epidemic entirely disappeared. The disorders and sickness caused by the too rapid chilling of the unprotected body after sundown, have given rise, I have no doubt, to that erroneous popular prejudice so common among all classes, even those of education and ordinarily good common sense, who imagine there is some peculiar poison or source of unhealthiness in the air at night, that is not contained in the air in the day-time. It will no doubt greatly relieve the minds of these from such "vain terrors," and prove most conclusively the entire fallacy of such reasoning, to examine these tables again. In the copies I have made, I have not classified the results given by day and by night, but a careful examination in detail, fails to show any appreciable difference in the aggregate, by day or by night. Méné's numerous experiments on the air in Paris, gave less carbonic acid at night than in the day-time. Lewey's analysis on the Atlantic ocean, one thousand miles from the coast, gave a decided excess in the day over that of the night. He attributes this to the action of the sunlight upon the ocean liberating the gases which it holds in solution. In cities there is a much larger quantity given off from burning coals of factories in the day-time than at night. It is not improbable, however, that the more rapid evaporation of moisture towards evening may carry with it the volatile particles of corrupted animal and vegetable matter to an extent slightly in excess of that which occurs in the morning, but it is believed these would not equal the greater contamination from burning coals, and the usually greater stillness of the air, producing partial stagnation, so that the air would be a little nearer pure at night than in the day-time. And how unmistakably do all these investigations prove what we ought to have known and accepted without a moment's hesitation, that the Creator, who has made such vast and such minute provisions for supplying every living creature with a constant and copious supply of fresh air, and has made it so important for their existence that they cannot live a moment without it, has made the air at night just as pure and wholesome as in the day-time. We have thus traced the scourge of foul air to our houses, and much of it to our bed-rooms. The next question is, how to get clear of it. We want to know, however, what poisons the air, so as to know in what part of the room it is to be found. We will try a very simple experiment, to show you what a deadly poison the breath is,--to the flame of a candle, at any rate. Here is a simple glass tube, open at both ends--an ordinary lamp chimney--a candle burns freely as you see, and would burn so all night, if it did not burn out. I will now remove the candle, and breathe into the tube through this pipe, and now you see how suddenly the candle is extinguished as I drop it in again. [Illustration: Fig. 3.] Animals are killed suddenly or after a more prolonged struggle, by the exhaled breath, according to the activity or sluggishness with which the blood circulates--a bird would be killed very soon--some partially torpid animals would live a long time. Man has great endurance--struggles long and hard; but if closely confined, will be poisoned to death in one night, as in the case of those confined in the celebrated Black Hole of Calcutta, and on board of vessels where they have been confined below decks in time of a storm. Others will struggle on longer, as in the case of the two thousand and twenty-six who died of consumption last year, in Philadelphia. And now let us see in which part of the room this deadly poison of our breath is mostly found. It is the popular idea, that because the body, and consequently the breath, is warmer than the ordinary temperature of a room, it rises and accumulates at the ceiling. Upon this theory most of our buildings have been ventilated whenever any attention whatever has been given to the subject; but that theory is incorrect; consequently, all practice based thereon is also wrong. This subject of the direction taken by the breath upon leaving the body, has been warmly discussed within a few years. It has been a very difficult matter to prove conclusively and satisfactorily, but I think we have devised some very simple experiments that will prove to you very clearly what we have stated. I have here a simple glass tube two feet long and one and a half inch interior diameter; one end is closed with a rubber diaphragm, through which is passed a small rubber tube--the other end is all open. We will rest this about horizontal, and taking a little smoke in the mouth, it will be discharged with the breath into the glass tube; it is first thrown towards the top, but it soon falls, and now see it flowing along the bottom of the tube like water--watch it as it reaches the far end--there, see it fall almost like water. [Illustration] Now, by raising the closed end of the pipe, you see we can pour it all out, and by filling it again and raising the other end, it falls back. Thus you see that, notwithstanding the extra warmth in the breath, it is heavier than the atmosphere, and falls to the floor of an ordinary room like this, say, when the temperature is from 60° to 70°. This is owing to the carbonic acid and moisture contained in it. I have varied this experiment in a number of ways, by passing it through smaller tubes and discharging it into the air in one or two seconds after leaving the lungs, and by passing it through water of various temperatures, and discharging it into rooms of different temperatures, with the same general results. As the temperature of the air diminishes, the tendency of the discharged breath to rise increases. Much care is required in conducting these experiments, to avoid as much as possible, the local currents which are always present in a room. This is a very important fact to be borne in mind; yet notwithstanding this, there are times, under certain circumstances, in which the foul air will be found in excess at the top of the room. For the further examination of this subject, we have here a little glass-house with glass chimneys and fire-place in the first and second stories. [Illustration] As the flame of a candle is such a beautiful emblem of human life, we will remove the roof and part of the floor of the second story, and place four candles in our house. They are all of different heights, you see. We will call them a father, mother and two children. As carbonic acid is that much dreaded poison in our breath, and the heavy portion of it which causes it to fall to the floor, we will make a little by placing a few scraps of common marble in this glass vessel, and pouring over it some sulphuric acid. It is now forming, and will fall and flow across the floor the same as carbonic acid does when it pours into a basement from the gutters on the street or filthy yards where it is formed, and before it is absorbed or diluted by the current of pure air sweeping over them. It first kills the smallest child, because it is nearest the floor. You remember the excessive infantile mortality in this city in 1865. This is partially owing to their breathing more of this foul air near the floor, and partially owing to the great fear of their mothers and nurses, of letting the little innocents get a breath of fresh air for fear it will give them colic, and consequently they smother them to death. The other child dies next, and then the mother, and lastly the father. Thousands are thus poisoned to death by their own breath every year. But did you ever see a physician's certificate that gave you any such idea? Why do not the doctors tell the living, in such language as they can understand, what killed their friends, so they may avoid it in their own case, instead of giving it in some Latin terms which I fear many interpret to mean some special dispensation of Divine Providence instead of the true cause--their utter disregard of the laws their Creator made for the preservation of their health? Had this family known enough about ventilation to have kept the fire-place open, with a little fire in it now and then, they would not have been thus killed. Let us see--we will take out the fire-board which has been put in to make the room look a little neater, and with a very small light there to create a draft in the chimney. We will again light the candles, and pour in the poisonous breath. Ah! there goes the little one--he is hardly high enough to keep out of that deadly current flowing across the floor. We shall have to let it in a little slower, or we will set him on a platform, as many persons who have carefully studied this subject, consider it judicious to do. Now, by the smoke from this taper, you can see the air is flowing across the floor and up the chimney. There has been a steady current flowing in long enough to have filled the house, but the lights are all burning brightly, and you thus see the value of an open fire-place for ventilation. Thousands of lives are thus saved, and many more would be if all fire-places were kept open. I have recommended hundreds of fire-boards to be cut up for kindling-wood, as I consider this is the best use that can be made of all fire-boards. Never stop up a fire-place in winter or summer, where any living being stays night or day. It would be about as absurd to take a piece of elegantly tinted court-plaster and stop up the nose, trusting to the accidental opening and shutting of the mouth for fresh air, because you thought it spoiled the looks of your face so to have two such great ugly-looking holes in it, as it is to stop your fire-place with elegantly tinted paper because you think it looks better. If you are so fortunate as to have a fire-place in your room, paint it when not in use; put a bouquet of fresh flowers in every morning, if you please, or do anything to make it attractive; but never close it. Now, there are other conditions in which a fire-place or an opening near the floor, will not answer for ventilation. This occurs in rooms where the air is made impure by burning lamps or gas, and where the fresh air entering the room is cooler than the temperature of the room itself. To illustrate this, we will put the roof on and take the entire floor away, or as it will be a little more convenient, we will represent it by this glass-house, using this shade for that purpose. [Illustration] This is supported some six inches from the floor, and has no bottom. By lighting another candle and standing it outside, you can judge by comparison, of the foulness of the air inside. The tallest one is affected first, this time. You see that is a perfectly formed light, but it gives but about half the light the one does on the outside; this is the way with many of us who are obliged to, or rather do, breathe foul air half the time. We often think, by comparing ourselves with others around us, that we are pretty fair specimens of humanity, while really we do not give more than half the light in the world that we ought to do, and kill ourselves before our work is half done. You see the two tallest are dead already, and the others will soon follow--there they go. Here is the bottom of the house removed, and yet these candles all went out for want of fresh air. Therefore, when we see the air is made impure by burning candles or gas lights, owing to its exceeding heat, the foul air is mostly at the top of the room, and especially when the fresh air enters cooler than the air in the room. We will find, however, that in a very few minutes the candles will relight long before the contained air or the glass shade cools down to the temperature of the room. The products of combustion, like those of respiration, are heavier than the ordinary atmosphere, and consequently fall to the floor very soon if not removed while very hot, by special openings immediately over them in the ceiling; after it has thus fallen, provision must be made for its removal from the level of the floor, in connection with the foul air from the breath. I hope that by these few simple experiments, and the statistics presented here this evening, we have strengthened your previous convictions of the importance of fresh air, because we are well aware that you will find, as you proceed in your investigations of this subject, that it is frequently surrounded with complications; yet the laws governing the circulation of air of different temperatures, are as fixed and immovable as the laws governing the rising and setting of the sun, and with a very little careful investigation, can be easily understood. And we believe no similar amount of money or thought, will produce a greater amount of satisfaction than the increased health, strength and happiness thus secured. LECTURE II. As I stated in our last lecture, much interest is being awakened, in this country and in Europe, by recent investigations showing the enormous numbers of untimely deaths that are caused throughout all classes of society by foul air. It would have been a startling announcement, ten years ago, to have stated that impure air caused as many deaths, and as much sickness, as all other causes combined, and yet the most diligent and accurate investigations are rapidly approaching that conclusion. Few really comprehend the immense pecuniary loss, to say nothing of the amount of suffering, that we endure by this extra and easily preventible amount of sickness. I propose, this evening, to enter upon the consideration of one of the most important parts of our subject--_the effect produced by_ HEAT _upon the movements of air_. I think it probable that many of us do not comprehend the actual reality of the air. We are apt to say of a room that has no carpet and furniture in it, that it has nothing in it, while, if it is full of air, it has a great deal in it. A room between twenty-seven and twenty-eight feet square contains one ton of air--a real ton, just as heavy as a ton of coal. Now, there is not only twenty-seven feet, but more than twenty-seven miles of air piled on top of us. The pressure of the atmosphere at the level of the ocean is about fifteen pounds to the square inch. An ordinary sized man sustains a pressure of about fifteen tons, and were it not that this pressure is equal in all directions, we would be crushed thereby. We must accustom our minds, therefore, to consider air a real substance, and that it is as totally unable to move itself, or to be moved, without _power_, as water or coal. It requires just as much power to move a ton of _air_ from the cellar to the second story, as it does a ton of coal. Heat is the great moving power of air. Those whose attention has not been especially directed to the subject of the amount of power exerted by the sun's rays upon the earth, have little conception of its magnitude. The power of all the horses in the world, added to the power of all the locomotives, and of all the immense steam engines in all the world, express but a small fraction of the power exerted by the sun's rays upon the earth. It is estimated to be sufficient to boil five cubic miles of ice-cold water every minute. His rays are the chosen power of the Creator for moving all matter upon the globe. It is his rays that lie buried in the vast coal fields beneath the earth. His rays cause every spear of grass to grow, rear the mighty oak, form the rose, burst its beautiful buds, and send its perfume through the air. No bird warbles its sweet music in the air, no insect breathes, save by his power, and all animals love to bask in the genial glow of his light and heat. He rolls the scorching air of the tropics to frozen lands, and wafts the ships across the seas. He forces the heated waters of the equator to the poles, tempering all the earth. He lifts the water from the sea to sprinkle all the land and cap the distant mountains with eternal snow. Now, let us examine a little more minutely how this influence is exerted upon the _air_, which is the subject we are especially interested in at present. Does it commence at the top, and heat it, layer by layer, until it reaches the bottom? Not at all; but it passes through the whole forty-five miles of air, heating it very little, if any, and falls upon the solid substances at the earth's surface, heating them, which, in turn, heat the air by its individual particles coming into immediate contact with those solid hotter substances. We will endeavor to illustrate this in a crude way. [Illustration: Fig. 7.] Here we have a tin tube, _a_, fifteen feet long and ten inches in diameter, open at both ends; two feet from one end we introduce this ascending pipe, _b_, the upper end of which is merely inserted in a small flue, extending to the top of the building. The height of this flue is sufficient to make a current of air pass through this tube, as you will see by holding this smoking taper at the far end. We will now place a large heated ball, _c_, at this end, and outside of that we will place this reflector, _d_, pressing it quite close to the end of the tube, so that no air can enter here. The rays of heat from this ball, or from any other warm body, are thrown like rays of light, in every direction equally; there would, therefore, be some of the rays thrown through this tube to the other end without any reflector, but the proportion that would reach the other end would, of course, be small. We therefore collect those going the other way, and change their course, and then send them straight through the tube to the far end. We will place another reflector, _e_, at the far end, to receive and concentrate those rays, in the focus of which we will place a candle, F, with a little phosphorus on it, to show you that the rays of heat are passing through. There you see the candle is lighted, thus proving that there is a strong current of radiant heat coming from the hot ball, through the tube to this end. And you see by this smoke that there is a current of air passing the other way. Now, we want to know how much that air is heated in passing the whole length of this tube against that shower of radiant heat, or whether air absorbs radiant heat at all; but, before going to the other end, where the hot ball is, we will take two thermometers that have been lying here, side by side, both indicating a temperature of 69°. One of them, _g_, we will hang at this end, about opposite to the centre of our tube, which, I think, will give us a fair average of the entering air, first removing, however, the candle that has been lighted, and the reflector. We will hang the other thermometer in the ascending tube, at the end near the heated ball. We have had two glasses, H, inserted here, so that we might observe what was going on within by the smoke from this taper. You see there is a strong current of air passing up the tube, all of which must come from the far end, flowing against the strong current of radiant heat going in the opposite direction. Now, leaving this thermometer to rise or fall according to the temperature of the air flowing through, we will go to the other end and examine another very interesting part of this experiment: it is the manner in which the radiant heat is received and appropriated by different substances. Radiant heat is thrown from a hot body in every direction equally, but no two kinds of substances receive those rays of heat in the same manner, nor do they make the same use of them after they have received them. Every substance receiving heat, however, must give a strict account of it. It must give out an equal amount of heat, or, what is taken as an equivalent, some action or power. I have a sheet of ordinary tin, and as I hold this polished side behind this light, you see it throws a belt of light across the room; and as I put it in front of the end of our tube, and turn it so that the rays of heat will be reflected in your faces, I think some of you will be able to feel the reflected heat. The rays of heat are turned from their course, and thrown in a belt of light across the room, similar to the rays of light. But you cannot give away and keep the same thing. This bright polished surface appropriates but a very small portion of the radiant heat. A thermometer hanging for some minutes against the back has scarcely risen one degree; but we have given the other side a coating of lamp black, with a little varnish, and by turning that side towards the pipe, the result will be quite different. By this coat of black varnish the whole character of the sheet of tin is changed. The black, however, has but little to do with it; if it were white, or red, or blue, the formation of the surface being similar in every respect, the result would be the same almost precisely. Instead of acting merely as a guide-post, to _change_ the _direction only_ of the rays of heat, as before, it now becomes a receiving depot, absorbing nearly all the heat that comes to it. It must soon become filled, however. The thermometer hanging at the back has risen six degrees already, and is going up rapidly; it must soon begin to distribute its extra stores. But mark the different manner of distributing the heat. Instead of _reflecting_ the whole all in one direction, as when received on the other side, it now _radiates_ them equally in every direction. Some solid substances allow the rays, both of heat and light, to pass directly through them without either reflecting or absorbing them. Other substances allow the rays of light to pass through them, but absorb much of the radiant heat, like clear glass. Rock salt is one of the best non-absorbents of radiant heat, allowing nearly the whole of the rays of heat to pass through unobstructed. We will now return to our experiment at the other end of the tube. I find there is something wrong here--the mercury in the thermometer has risen several degrees. I knew this was rather a crude arrangement for illustrating this very beautiful and interesting part of our subject, but I hoped it would assist me a little in conveying to you the idea I desired to impress upon your minds. I find, however, that it is scarcely delicate enough to illustrate perfectly what I wanted to show. But this increased temperature is not owing to the effect of radiant heat on the air coming from the far end, for I find by the heat at the top of the pipe, between the heated ball and this ascending pipe, I, and by the current of heated air on the side next the ball, that there is a current of _circulating air_ that _has been heated_ by coming into immediate _contact_ with the hot ball. I designed this smaller tube, _k_, to carry off the air thus heated, but it appears to be too small. We ought to have had a piece of rock-salt to have closed the end of this tube, so that the radiant heat would have passed through without allowing any _circulation_ of _heated air_, but I was unable to find such a piece. But Professor Tyndall, in his lectures before the Royal Institute of Great Britain, gives the results of a large number of very accurate and beautiful experiments tried for the purpose of determining whether the forty-five miles of atmosphere surrounding the earth absorbed _any_ of the sun's rays, and if so, how much? These experiments prove, in the most conclusive manner, that dry pure air is almost a perfect non-absorbent of radiant heat. Thus, were the air entirely dry and pure, the whole forty-five miles through which the sun's rays have to pass, would absorb a very small fraction thereof, so that in the length of our tube it would be but an exceedingly small fraction of one degree, that is, for pure dry air. But is the air of this room pure and dry? Very far from it. Professor Tyndall found that the moisture alone in the air of an ordinary room, absorbed from fifty to seventy times as much of the radiant heat as the air does. Air and the elementary gases--oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen--have no power of absorbing radiant heat, but the compound gases have a very different effect; for instance, olifiant gas absorbs 7950 times as much as air; ammonia, 7260; sulphurous acid, 8800 times. Perfumes, also, have a wonderful power of absorbing radiant heat. The moisture in the air, however, is of the greatest practical importance in various ways. It is the great governor or regulator or conservator of heat; it absorbs it and carries it from point to point and into places where the direct rays of the sun could not get; it is like a soft invisible blanket constantly wrapped around us, which protects us from too sudden heating or too sudden cooling. Professor Tyndall, speaking of the moisture in the air, says: "Regarding the earth as a source of heat, no doubt at least ten per cent. of its heat is intercepted within ten feet of its surface." He also says: "The removal for a single summer's night of the aqueous vapor from the atmosphere which covers England, would be attended by the destruction of every plant which a freezing temperature could kill. "In Sahara, where the soil is fire and the wind is flame, the refrigeration is painful to bear." And in many of our furnace-heated houses, we have an atmosphere very similar in point of dryness to that of Sahara, but more impure. The foregoing remarks in regard to the impossibility of heating air, apply especially to radiant heat. Air does become heated, but in a different manner; it is heated by each individual particle or atom coming in immediate contact with some hotter substance. See what a wonderful provision for creating a constant circulation of the air. The sun's rays pass through it without heating it, but they heat the surface of the earth at the very bottom of the ocean of air; this, in its turn, heats the air by each individual atom coming in immediate contact with these hotter substances, expanding them so that they must rise, thus enabling the colder and heavier particles to rush in and take their places. With this great universal moving cause, in connection with the innumerable minor causes resulting from the very different absorbing, radiating and reflecting powers of various substances, it becomes almost impossible for the air to be entirely and absolutely at rest, even in the most minute crack or cranny, or bottle corked air-tight. Now, to apply these principles to every-day life, to the heating and ventilation of our houses, taking the _open fire_ first, we find that it acts like the sun, heating exclusively by direct radiation. The rays of heat fall upon the sides of the room, the floor and ceiling, and the solid substances in the room, which thus become partially heated, and in their turn become _secondary radiators_. This radiant heat from the fire does not heat the air in the room at all, but the air becomes partially warmed by coming in immediate contact with the sides of the room, the furniture, &c. One great reason, therefore, why an open fire is so much more wholesome than any other means of artificial heating, is because it more nearly imitates the action of the sun. The rays of heat fall upon our bodies, heating them, while it leaves the air cool, concentrated and invigorating for breathing. The bright glow of an open fire has a very cheering and animating effect. It produces a very agreeable and healthy excitement. It is not improbable that future careful investigations may prove that there is an important change takes place in the electric or ozonic condition of air as it passes over, or in contact with, hot iron, which does not occur to the air of a room heated by the open fire. The air in a room heated by an open fire can scarcely become stagnant, because that fire must necessarily be constantly drawing a considerable amount of air from the room to support combustion, the place of which will be supplied by other air, and here is where one of the greatest inconveniences arises in the use of the open fire; if the air entering to supply this exhaustion comes in at a crack of the door or window, on the opposite side of the room, and that air is cold, say 10° or 15° above zero, it flows across the floor to the fire, chilling the feet and backs of those sitting in its track. It is quite possible to roast a goose or round of beef in front of a fire, while the air flowing by it into the fire is freezing cold. This should be remedied by having the air flowing in partially warmed before it enters, say to a temperature of 40° to 50°, either by having the halls overflowed by partially warmed air, and opening a door into it, or by admitting the air to enter around the back of the fire-place, as Dr. Franklin arranged it. Thus, while an open fire is the healthiest known means of heating a small room, and should be in the family sitting-room of every house, and in offices and other places where the occupants are at liberty to move closer or further from the fire at pleasure, yet it is entirely unsuitable for a large building, or for rooms where many persons are assembled, and have fixed seats, similar to a school, lecture-room, factory, &c. A stove in a room heats both by direct radiation and by heating the air that comes in immediate contact with it. But our latest styles of elegant new patent gas-consuming air-tight stoves, require so small an amount of air to support combustion, that there is a strong probability of the occupants of a room thus heated smothering to death for want of fresh air, sooner or later, and generally the former. But a stove, if properly used, creates a comfortable and wholesome atmosphere, and is one of the most economical means of heating now known. There should always be a separate pipe for introducing the fresh air from the external atmosphere, which fresh and cold air should be discharged on or near the top of the stove. And if this supply of fresh air is abundant, with a constant evaporation of moisture sufficient to compensate for the increased capacity therefor due to the additional heat given it, and an opening into a heated flue near the ceiling, to be opened in the evening when the gas-lights are burning, or when the room is too hot, and kept shut at all other times, with another opening into a heated flue on a level with the floor, which should be kept _always open_ to carry off the cold, heavy foul air from the floor--a stove thus arranged for many small isolated rooms, makes one of the most economical as well as most comfortable and wholesome means of heating at our command. It combines the three great essentials necessary for comfort and health--_warmth_, partially by direct radiation, _fresh air_ and _moisture_. But neither the open fire nor the stove, as desirable as they may be in many small rooms, are suitable for large rooms, especially where many persons are assembled. Heating principally by circulating warmed air, or in combination with direct radiation from exposed pipes filled with steam or hot water, is in such cases more convenient. It is in connection with this system of heating by circulating warm air, that the erroneous views in relation to ventilation generally entertained by the public, produce the most injurious effects. The special points to be borne in mind in considering this subject are that, when in motion, warmer air rises and colder air falls; but when at rest, the stratums of air of different temperatures arrange themselves horizontally. One other thing: we must remember _temperature_ has nothing to do with the purity or impurity of the air. The pure air entering a room is _sometimes_ colder than the average temperature of the room, and falls to the floor, forcing the warmer, and, in that case, fouler air to the upper part of the room. But frequently, in winter, the fresh air enters _warmer_ than the average temperature of the room, and _rises to the ceiling_, and flows across the room above the colder and fouler air that has been longer in the room. You must not forget the experiments in our first lecture, showing that the breath in an ordinary room, of a temperature of 70°, fell to the floor instead of rising to the ceiling. I propose illustrating this part of our subject, by using a little glass room to show the movements of air of different temperatures. We can either use air of different temperatures, showing the motion of the various currents by a little smoke; or, as the laws governing the circulation of liquids of different densities are so similar, and by the use of a little coloring matter will express to an audience of this kind more promptly and clearly the ideas which we wish to convey, we therefore propose using the different colored liquids this evening. The colors, of course, have nothing to do with the densities, but are merely used as a convenient method of designation; the red representing heat or rarity, and blue, coldness or density. The room is now filled with clear water, slightly blue, to represent cold, and a little salt, which makes it a little more dense than fresh water. Now, I will let in at the top a little fresh water, colored red by cochineal, to represent heat, and by making a similar opening on the opposite side for its escape, you will be able readily to see in what direction it moves. There, see it entering--see how it flows directly across the top of the room, and escapes at the opening on the opposite side. You see it disturbs the lower and colder parts of the room but very little. Thus a large flow of pure fresh warm air might be going through a room all day, and be entirely wasted, neither warming nor ventilating it. Fortunately, there are but few buildings arranged in quite so absurd a manner as this. I believe it was tried in the House of Lords, on the erection of the new Houses of Parliament, but, of course, failed. I think they still adhere to it in some of the wards of some Insane Asylums, where they depend, I suppose, upon the excitement of the patients to keep themselves warm and the air stirred up. I also noticed this arrangement in a new building just being finished, a few years since, at Yale College. The architects of that building had probably been impressed with the dreadful effects upon the health of students of the air from our ordinary hot air furnaces, and thought they would avoid all such danger. I think, however, it would have answered their purpose just as well, and been much more economical, to have placed the furnaces at the coal mines, and saved the trouble and expense of carrying the coal so far. I expect they have made other arrangements, probably, by this time. [Illustration: Fig. 1] [Illustration: Fig. 2] [Illustration: Fig. 3] We will now close the opening at the top for the _inlet_ of the fresh warmed air, and open a valve, so as to allow it to flow in at the bottom. We will allow the opening at the top for the _outlet_ of the foul(?) air to remain as before, (see Fig. 1, Lithograph plates.) This is quite an improvement; it agitates the air much more than the other, and by going and standing directly over the register, you can always get in the current of fresh warm air. But you see to what a very small portion of the room the heated air is confined, rising in one perpendicular column directly to the ceiling, and then flowing horizontally along the ceiling to the outlet. How little it disturbs the main portions of the room, especially the lower and occupied part. I hope you will notice that this illustrates the popular notions of ventilation. I suppose three-fourths of all the buildings in this country, or in Europe, where any attempts at artificial ventilation have been made, are thus arranged. Dr. Franklin knew better, and made a much more perfect arrangement than this. But we are probably mostly indebted to that very able and enthusiastic advocate of ventilation, Dr. Reid, for this popular opinion. The whole of the plan that he advocated is but little understood by the public. He assumed that the natural warmth of the body created an ascending current around us, and caused the breath to rise towards the ceiling, and consequently, in all artificial arrangements, it was best to endeavor to imitate this natural movement of the air. And to overcome the great practical difficulty we see here exhibited, of the fresh warm air flowing through the room, and disturbing so small a portion of it, he proposed making the whole floor one register, and thus have an ascending column over the entire room. For this purpose, the floors in the Houses of Parliament were perforated by hundreds of thousands of gimlet holes, and the whole cellar made a hot air chamber. This was a magnificent idea, and, I believe, in some few instances, where fully carried out, has given a good degree of satisfaction; but it is always difficult to adjust the opening and the pressure so as to cause an even flow over so large a surface, and at the same time to be so gentle as not to be offensive to those with whom it comes in contact. But this thorough diffusion cannot be conveniently applied in one case in a thousand. It must necessarily be always very extravagant, as it will constantly require a great amount of air to insure a thorough circulation through all parts of the room. I wish, therefore, most emphatically, to condemn all systems relying upon openings in the ceiling for the escape of the foul air, while depending upon the circulation of warmed air for obtaining the necessary additional warmth. In practice they are universally closed in winter, for the purpose of keeping warm, and as such openings have been so generally considered the _only_ ones necessary for the proper ventilation of a room, and as they had to be shut in winter, just when artificial ventilation was most necessary, it has created a very strong prejudice in the popular mind against all ventilation. The result of the advocacy of these impracticable theories by so many able and learned men, (most physicians writing upon this subject have adopted them,) has been the shutting up of many thousands and tens of thousands, till they have smothered to death. The ravages of consumption and the excessive infantile mortality, and the many diseases resulting from foul air poisons, are in a great measure due to the general advocacy of these false theories. As I have before said, Dr. Franklin knew better than this, and had we been contented to have followed his simple practical advice, instead of being dazzled by the splendid theories of others, thousands of our friends would now be with us who died long since for the want of fresh air. Now, let us see how Dr. Franklin says a room ought to be ventilated. He says, "the fresh air entering, becoming warmed and specifically lighter, is forced out into the rooms, rises by the mantel-piece to the ceiling, and spreads all over the top of the room, whence, being crowded down gradually by the stream of newly warmed air that follows and rises above it, the whole room becomes in a short time equally warmed." This is the principle upon which his celebrated Franklin stove was arranged. Now, let us see if we can arrange our little glass house so as to illustrate this. We will first fill it with what we call our cold air, and will close the outlet at the top, and take out the fire-board. Now, as I let in the warm fresh air, it rises immediately to the top, as before, and flows across the ceiling, but as it cannot escape there, it forces the cold air down, and causes it to flow out at the fire-place. See how quickly the whole room is filled with the fresh warmed air. Ah! I see I am a little too fast--there appears to be a stratum of a foot or two, lying on the floor, that is not disturbed yet. It flows out at the top of the fire-place, and therefore does not reach to the floor. This is frequently the cause of cold feet and much discomfort. We will make the opening directly at the floor, (see Fig. 2, Lithograph plate,) and that forces all the cold air out, warming and ventilating the whole room. Here is the whole problem solved in the most beautiful and simple manner. And you may exclaim, as you see the simplicity and perfect working of this, how came any one ever to think of anything else. Here, again, you see the value of that most excellent and valuable of household arrangements, the open _fire-place_; even without the fire it serves a most important purpose. [Illustration: Fig. 4] [Illustration: Fig. 5] [Illustration: Fig. 6] We must not forget, however, that there are other circumstances in which it will not do to depend on the fire-place alone for ventilation. Now, by leaving the fire-place open, just as it is, and the room full of warm air, we will simply change the _condition_ of the air supplied, and allow cold air to flow in at the bottom instead of the top. (See Fig. 3.) There, you see the fresh _cold_ air simply falls to the bottom and flows across the floor, without disturbing the upper part of the room at all. It acts just the reverse of the hot air let in and taken out at the top of the room. When you are ventilating a room by _opening a window_, therefore, it is often necessary to open it at the top; but remember when you are ventilating by doors and windows, (which are the great natural ventilators,) _they_ are an entire substitute for flues--flues are then of no account. All _windows_, therefore, ought to be made to _lower from the top_, and all ventilating _flues_ ought to be made to _open at the bottom_ of the room. I have noticed another very interesting feature in regard to the circulation of liquids of different densities; for instance, suppose we fill our little room half full with salt water, and the remainder with fresh water, we will now apply a spirit lamp to the bottom of the room. As the salt water becomes heated it rises rapidly, yet not to the top of the room, but only half-way, or to the top of the denser liquid, and then spreads across the room horizontally. Thus the salt water will keep up a rapid circulation, and may be heated almost to a boiling temperature _underneath_, and without heating or disturbing, the cold fresh water _above_. I have tried some very beautiful experiments of this kind with a number of liquids of different densities in the same vessel. Gases of different densities are probably influenced in a similar manner by the application of heat. And here we see the value of that beautiful law of the diffusion of gases, by which each gas, no matter what its density, is equally diffused in all directions through the other gases, independent of temperature. I desire to call your attention this evening to one other distinct system of heating--I mean that very convenient, economical, cleanly and FASHIONABLE system of heating by direct radiation from steam-pipes. As steam has become such a common article in all large buildings, both for power and as a convenient means of distributing heat, most large buildings are thus heated; and as a perfectly air-tight building can be very easily heated thus, and as most persons are too ignorant or too careless to provide a separate and distinct supply of fresh air simply for ventilation alone, the consequence is, that this system, thus so shamefully abused, is probably drying up more talent and killing more business men in our cities than any other system in existence. This applies especially to the editorial rooms of nearly every one of our leading newspapers and publishing houses. They use steam for driving their beautiful printing presses, and the heating and ventilation, or rather, the entire want of ventilation, in their offices, would indicate that they think that the same power that drives their presses, to do the printing so nicely, is entirely sufficient to drive them to write the original articles for the printer, and that they have no more need of _fresh air_ than their presses. You may think that I am certainly mistaken that so intelligent a class of the community, who are building such splendid fire-proof buildings, such perfect palaces of iron and stone and marble, as our newspaper establishments are building in New York, Philadelphia and other large cities, would never make such a blunder as to omit providing the most abundant supply of pure, fresh air to every employé in their establishments, and at all times, both in summer and winter. Should there be any one present thus doubtful, I wish he would undertake to get any one of our enterprising newspaper establishments to publish in their paper an accurate intelligible account of their system of ventilation, illustrating clearly the known quantity of pure, fresh air delivered within using distance of each one of the editors and employés. I think he would soon come to the same conclusion I have, that the advice of the minister to his congregation would be very applicable to them--"Always do as I _say_, but never do as I _do_." LECTURE III. In my first lecture, I endeavored to show how much we were suffering from the effects of foul air, and the advantages to be gained by supplying ourselves all the time with pure air. Because we must first feel that there is something to be gained before we will make any great effort towards obtaining a given result. In my second lecture we considered the general principles governing the circulation of air, the courses of its movements, the manner of the action of heat upon different kinds of substances, which creates a constant, ceaseless motion of the air, in all places, from the minutest corked bottle to the vast currents that sweep over the face of the earth. Now, having learned the necessity for pure, fresh air, and studied the general laws governing its circulation, let us apply these principles to every-day life. To every-_day_ life? I should say every-_hour_ life--nay, every _moment_ of our lives; for twenty times every minute of our entire life, from the cradle to the grave, do we breathe what ought to be pure air. Is it always pure? If we breathe one single breath, in the entire day, of _impure_ air, it will weaken us, deduct from our capacity to attend to our daily duties, and shorten our lives, in exact mathematical proportion to the amount of impurity in that one single breath. Now, we breathe twenty times every minute, twelve hundred times every hour, twenty-eight thousand times every day, and nothing but absolute and perfectly pure air answers the exact requirements of perfect health. Well, you may ask, at first thought, if fresh air is such a panacea for all evils, and there is such an abundance of it out of doors, why not breathe it, and always enjoy perfect health? Think one moment. I eat my breakfast in the morning, generally refreshed by a night of good sound sleep, (for I sleep with my windows open.) Immediately after breakfast, I enter the cars to come to the city. What a smell comes from the car as the door is opened! and unless I wish to incur the displeasure, or provoke the indignation, of almost every passenger, by opening a window, I am obliged to sit in that foul, offensive atmosphere, and breathe the poisonous exhalations from my own lungs, and that from dozens of others, some of them, it may be, badly diseased, (most persons' lungs _are diseased_ in this country, from breathing foul air, and many other diseases besides consumption are produced thereby.) Thus, in one half hour, I have inhaled six hundred times of this foul and poisonous air, and the blood has carried it to every portion of my body, so that my entire system is completely saturated, poisoned, yes, thoroughly poisoned by it, from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. And thus is the day commenced. Your blood is thoroughly poisoned before your breakfast is digested; for your breakfast will no more digest without pure air than the coal in your stove will burn without it. You are subjected to headache, dyspepsia, and a half dozen other aches and pains, and are tired out long before night. And thus you are killed long before you would die if you breathed pure air only. And am I relieved from the difficulty when I arrive in the city? Start to-morrow morning at the Delaware River, on Arch or Walnut Streets, or any other street, and go to the Schuylkill. Inquire of every individual, in office, store, dwelling or factory, if he knows whether he had pure air to breathe all day, or whether he can tell you, with any degree of accuracy, how pure the air was in the room he occupied for any hour of that day. I fully believe there is not one in ten--no, not one in a hundred--of the most intelligent men in that entire street, doctor, lawyer, architect, or any other, that can give you an accurate account of the condition of the air breathed during any one hour of the day. That is not all. There is scarcely one in a hundred that can satisfy you, by an intelligent description, of the means used for providing it: First--Assuming the air outside to be pure, that there was a constant, positive and sufficient supply of that outside air introduced. Secondly--That that pure air was not deteriorated by overheating, or contaminated by being mixed with the poisonous gases of the burning coal. Thirdly--That there was sufficient moisture added to it to compensate for its increased capacity for moisture, due to its expansion by the additional heat given to it, (which is a very important thing.) Fourthly--That there was any accurate, positive means provided for insuring the fresh air to be brought within reach of the lungs of those for whom it was intended. And, lastly--That there was a positive means provided for the removal of all the poisoned air thrown from the lungs, so that none could possibly be _re-breathed_. No; you will find them in close, unventilated offices, in close factories, in almost _air-tight_ dwellings. In the large stores they do better. The air is very commonly overheated, it is often mixed with impurities, and very seldom supplied with a proper amount of additional moisture. The air is often so dry, that in a few minutes' conversation the linings of the air-passages to your lungs become parched and husky, producing irritation and a feverish condition of the system. And even in this room, to-night, do you see any opening at your feet, connected with a heated flue, for drawing the foul air from the floor as fast as thrown from your lungs? I believe there is not a square inch provided for that purpose. Or, do you see any escape immediately above the gas-lights, for carrying off the burned air while hot enough to escape? Not one. There are two or three openings, I think, in the back part of the room, just at the ceiling, but for your breath to get there, it must rise and pass by the zone of respiration, and much of it be again re-breathed; and the products of combustion, as we have seen, would cool sufficiently to fall to the floor long before they reached that point. I take the liberty of calling your attention to this with more freedom, because it does not indicate any special inattention on the part of the Managers. It is not an exceptional case, but it is the rule. It is the popular opinion of the proper means of ventilation. Go with me, if you please, to that magnificent building, completed but a few years since, at a cost of half a million of dollars, and given by its noble and generous founder to the city of New York. You will notice, inscribed above the entrance, cut in the solid stone, "To the Arts and Sciences." Look in this reading-room--perhaps the most useful and most appreciated of any public reading-room in the United States. See the large numbers of honest, industrious mechanics, snatching an hour from their labors, to look over the current literature of the day. Here, certainly, we shall find the most perfect arrangement for heating and ventilation that our knowledge of the arts and sciences could suggest. Let us see the arrangements for bringing in the fresh air, for warming it in cold weather, and for removing the foul air. What! no provision for a regular supply of fresh air? Not one foot, not one inch--neither are there any regular flues for the removal of the foul air. And this most remarkable condition of things is but repeated in the magnificent hotels, marble palaces used as offices, and in many of the new and splendid colleges; and, we might almost say, in all other buildings throughout the length and breadth of our land. Thus you see how difficult it is for one to mingle freely in the society of his fellow-men, under existing circumstances, without being subjected to being poisoned by foul air. In going from here to my home, to-night, I shall have to ride in those cars, the air of which I dread more than I ever dreaded the small-pox or cholera. I have been in hospitals where I have seen much of both. They may slay their thousands, but foul air its tens of thousands. And it is only when I get to my room, where I shall probably sleep to-night with two windows well open, allowing the unobstructed breezes of half a mile of open country to sweep through my chamber, that I shall feel entirely secure from the contaminating influences of foul air, and enjoy to its full extent the greatest of God's temporal blessings to man--_pure air_. I have no new patent idea to present to you, which shall secure to you at all times perfectly pure air, without any further trouble on your part. There are no two constitutions precisely alike, any more than there are two human faces, or two handwritings, and there are no two hours in our entire life in which all the physical conditions of our body are precisely the same. It would be just as absurd, therefore, to go to a ventilating establishment, and tell the proprietor to ventilate your house or office, and pay the bill when it came in, and content yourself by saying: "Well, I am glad this ventilating business is done with. I have got my house ventilated, and the bills paid, and I am glad I am _through_ with that vexatious business." I say this would be just as absurd as it would be, in case you had some pain or ache, to go to your doctor and get some medicine, and therewith content yourself, and say: "Well, I am glad this doctoring business is over with; I have been dreading it all my life. I have been to the doctor's at last, have been doctored, and got my medicine and paid my bill, and so I am through with that vexatious business." No--you must first feel that fresh air is worth taking some trouble to obtain. You must then make it a _study how_ to obtain it without _chilling_ or _overheating_ your body, in winter and in summer, at night and in the day time, when you are lying down and when you are sitting up, before eating and after eating, before exercising, while exercising, and after exercising--when you are well and when you are sick, when you are alone and when you are in the crowded cars, or in a crowded room, in wet weather and in dry, and for the ever varying changes of the external atmosphere--all these conditions require separate and intelligent thought. In summer we depend almost exclusively on the natural movements of the air. To cause the air to _move_ is then the great matter. We must then remember that the great masses of air move horizontally, not perpendicularly. Of course, there are many little disturbing influences, but I mean the great mass of the air moves over the surface of the earth in horizontal strata. You can see this by the smoke of the locomotive on the prairie, which can be seen sometimes for twenty or thirty miles, stretching along just above the horizon. All _flues_, therefore, are of little account in summer. We must depend on open doors and windows. Suppose you wish to ventilate your room in the morning, the air outside having become a little warmer than the air inside, and the upper parts of the window only lowered: the warmer air would flow across the top of the room, leaving the air undisturbed in the lower and colder part. In this case, the window should be raised from the bottom, or a door opened that would afford an escape for the air. But again, suppose this same room to want ventilating in the evening. The room has become warm through the day, and the outside evening air is cooler than the room, and then, if you raise the windows from the bottom only, the cooler air will flow across the bottom of the room, leaving the upper part undisturbed and foul. No doubt you have all noticed, frequently, that in going into a room in the evening, when your heads were above the window opening, it would be quite hot, but if you stooped down below the line of the open window, it would be cool and pleasant. All windows should be made to lower from the top, to meet this special case. If you are boarding, or are so unfortunate as to be put in a room where the great blunder has been made of not having the windows to lower, go to the nearest carpenter shop next morning, before breakfast, and get a chisel, and cut six or eight inches off the little strip which supports the sash, and, with a gimlet, bore a hole directly through the sash, on both sides, and with a nail you can keep the sash up in its place, when necessary. I have had hundreds, yes, I suppose, thousands, made to lower this way in the hospitals. Motion, motion is the great desideratum in summer. You have all noticed, no doubt, how pleasant it is to go into a cool room, like a parlor, that has been kept shut up on a hot summer's day; but in a short time it begins to feel oppressive, and it is more comfortable to have the windows open, and a _circulation_ of air, even if it should be a little hotter than the stagnant cool air. Never sleep with closed windows in summer. It is in winter, however, that the greatest care is required in providing a constant supply of pure air. If we would but accustom our minds to comprehend, readily and quickly, that cold air falls and warm air rises, it would assist us in our conclusions. We all know that, of course, but we do not practice _applying_ it readily and quickly on all occasions. In summer, as I have said, the air moves horizontally, and then windows and doors are the great means of ventilation; but as cold weather approaches, we must keep the windows shut, excepting when in bed. In winter, therefore, we must resort to flues for the means of creating a circulation, and for conveying the air from one part to another. A flue is simply a passage--a communication--for air of different temperatures. A flue has no power to _create_ a draught. If the air within is colder, it will have the power to fall; if warmer, it will be driven up. [Illustration: Fig. 8.] For illustrating this, I have here some glass tubes about two feet long and two inches diameter. This one (Fig. 8) has been lying on the table some time, and I suppose is very nearly the temperature of the air in the room. I have here a little tin box, which answers for a connecting tube, and over one of the openings I stand this tube, and by the smoke from this taper, first held at the top, you see there is no current down the tube. And again, by holding the taper at the lower opening, you see there is no current passing up the flue. But I will remove that, and place one (Fig. 9) over the same opening that is warmer, and now you can see how strongly the smoke is drawn down through this lower opening, and see it flowing up this warm flue, and out at the top. We will now substitute a cold flue (Fig. 10). This condenses the air, and it falls rapidly. This action often occurs in the spring and early part of summer, especially in the morning, as the external air becomes heated, and the solid mason-work of the chimney remains cold, causing a descending current, which is often noticeable by the smell of soot in the room. We will now add this tube, of the same temperature as the room (Fig. 11), to see if the additional height will not make an ascending current. But you see the smoke is still drawn down, the height of the flue adds a little to its power, but the difference in its temperature is the controlling force. [Illustration: Fig. 9.] [Illustration: Fig. 10.] [Illustration: Fig. 11.] [Illustration: Fig. 12.] We will now place another tube over the lower opening (Fig. 12). Just see what a wonderful effect that has! Here is the air rushing down this short flue and up the two cold ones. We called those two first pipes cold, but our ideas of heat and cold are simply _comparative_; everything is warm, or has heat in it. Perhaps some of us think there is not much heat in the air when it comes whistling around our ears 15° or 20° below zero; but the cold rigid chemist will still extract many degrees of heat from that. We must, therefore, remember that absolute temperature has nothing to do with the air passing up or down a flue--it is simply _comparative_ temperature. [Illustration: Fig. 13.] Let me show you one more experiment. Here are two tubes we have had heated; as you see, the smoke rushes up them rapidly. But now we will add this third one (Fig. 13), which reverses the current at once. The two first are hot, taking the _temperature of the room as the standard_, but the third one is still _hotter_. [Illustration: Fig. 14.] The form of a flue has but little to do with the draught; the height has a slight influence, but bear in mind constantly that the great moving power in all flues is the variation of temperature. Now, let us make a practical application of this principle. Wait a moment: just let us lay this one aside, but not forget it, as we shall want to refer to it in a few moments, and try another experiment which has some bearing upon the subject. I have here a tube just one foot square and two feet long, and one foot from the bottom there is what we will suppose to be an air-tight piston that can be moved without friction. Now, suppose we heat that air 490° (for the sake of easy remembering, say 500°); this would just double its volume--it would then be two cubic feet in size instead of one. Now, suppose that, instead of letting this air expand, we should put a weight on it, so as to keep it in its place, how much do you think we should have to place on? Two thousand one hundred and sixty pounds, or about one ton. Now, what do we find these 2160 pounds to represent? It is the weight of a column of atmosphere with a base of one foot square, or fifteen pounds multiplied by 144 square inches--it is the weight that would rest upon the piston if all the air was taken out from under it. Therefore, if you add about 500° of heat to a cubic foot of air, it makes it two cubic feet of air; or, if you attempt to keep it from expanding, you must put a ton weight upon it. Mark one thing, however, if it takes ten ounces of coal to heat that air to 490°, which we do by piling our ton weight upon it, it will take fourteen ounces of coal if we allow it to expand to two feet. In the former case, where the air remains stationary, it had done no work. It was ready to go to work, but it had not commenced. But in the case of its expansion, it had done a great work. What was it? Why it had lifted that ton of atmospheric air one foot in height, and that work was what used up the difference between ten parts and fourteen parts of coal (I don't trouble you with fractions). You see, therefore, to make the air quit the earth and ascend into the upper regions, requires a positive power, the same as it does to drive some poor simple people away from the fire on a cold day. We often say that, by heating air, we give it power to ascend; instead of which heating it destroys its power to maintain its position. It weakens--enervates it--so that its neighbors easily drive it out and take its place. One cubic foot of air, diluted to two feet, would be driven about two miles and a half high before it found any body as weak as itself, for every 350 feet in height, in round numbers, the pressure diminishes by an amount equal to one degree, or forced under water thirty-four feet reduces it to one-half its bulk. Now, let us go back and finish our syphon, or flue experiment. Here we have our little glass house again. We will take the roof off and put a pretty large family in it--I mean large in numbers, if not in size. You may call it a school, or public meeting, or church, or whatever you please. Suppose, for illustration, we call it a church, and we will call this larger light in this end the minister speaking to the congregation. You see, the lights are a good deal agitated, and flare around a good deal. There is a rush of air down at this end, and, as it becomes heated, it rises at the other. Let us cover about one-half of this up. Now see what a rush of air there is _down_ these flues, instead of _up_ them, as there ought to be. Here, you see, the main body of the building, though much shorter than the flues, forms the heated leg of the syphon; and you may thus recognize why many of the ventilating flues, put in the cold outside walls of many of our large buildings, persist in working the wrong way, and cold air blows down there, instead of the foul air going up. But there seems to be too much draught. Let us put the roof on. Ah, that is better; but, then, what a draught there is down this chimney-flue. Call the sexton, and have that stopped up quickly, or those sitting near there will soon catch their death of cold, and will never come here again. You see, however, they shine very brightly, notwithstanding all the draught, but there, now, it is all closed up as snugly as the most fashionable church in town. See how quiet and peacefully they burn now. Ah, there is one just gone to sleep. You must excuse him, he probably was up most of the night with a sick child. And there goes another. I think he must have been very busy for the last week settling up his last year's accounts. Just see, they are going to sleep so fast, I don't think we can pretend to give excuses for them all. And, now, is not that a brilliant congregation to be preaching to? Everyone dead asleep excepting the preacher himself, and I suspect he feels stupid enough to go to sleep, but it would not look well; and he has to tax his energies so severely he will hardly get over it, so as to be good for anything for the balance of the week. You may think this an exaggerated representation of the real facts. Do not deceive yourselves. A few months since I was requested by one of the congregation to visit a building within a few minutes' walk of this place, and see if there was not some defect in the ventilation. The gentleman stated to me that he sometimes attended the class-meeting, and would be glad to go oftener, but it was held in the basement story, and it was quite impossible for him to keep awake, as he had to get up and go out two or three times during the evening, to get a little fresh air, or he could not keep awake. I examined it. The ceilings were low-only nine or ten feet;--then there were two old leaky portable furnaces, which were used as occasion required for heating the large room above, or the basement room when the class-meeting was held. The only ventilation they had was to let off the surplus heat (if they had any, which was seldom) into the room above. Now for fresh air. By a very careful and minute examination, I discovered a little pipe (I think it was about six inches in diameter) to each stove (both of which would not be over half as large as what I have to supply my own bedroom), for the supply of the fresh air for that whole congregation. _Fresh air_, did I say? Well, let us see where this fresh air comes from. The janitor, after taking us down and showing where he kept the ashes, wood, old benches, and all sorts of rubbish, was about going up, but said I, "Where is the part where you get the fresh air to the furnaces?" "Oh," he said, "he could not get to that, it was such a rough place, and there was a sewer or gutter (from the adjoining graveyard I suppose) running right across it." And from that place, too rough to be got at, with an open sewer running through, and too foul to go into, was where they got the _fresh air_ (!) from for the whole of that congregation to breathe. And do you suppose this is an exception? Let me tell you. During the first year of the late war I was called upon by the Sanitary Commission to examine the hospitals in Washington City with reference to their ventilation. A large number of the churches in that city were used for hospital purposes, and many of them were heated by hot-air furnaces, and in not _one single instance_ had they fresh air boxes to them, neither had they any means for carrying off the foul air. The furnaces were generally placed in a hole excavated under the main part of the building, and all the ground around them left exposed, and the air was sucked in from the fermenting, decaying vegetable mould under the building. And this place around the furnace was the place where all the filth and old rubbish was thrown to get it _out of the way_, and it was thoroughly out of the way too, for the surgeon in charge or any inspector never got there to see it. In some cases I found this space around the furnace used as the dead house! Did I say there was no attempt in any of those buildings for systematic ventilation? I ought to have made one exception. I called one morning about ten o'clock at one of the finest new churches, which was then being occupied as a hospital, and asked for the surgeon in charge. He had not arrived. (They did not often venture in before eleven o'clock, the wards became so foul during the night it took till that time, with the windows up, to get them fit for the surgeon in charge to venture in.) I inquired of the wardmaster how the building was ventilated. "Oh, very well--very well, indeed--they had good ventilation," pointing up to a large, splendid ventilator in the ceiling. "Do you keep that always open?" I asked. "Oh, certainly," he replied. But I always have a great suspicion of those ceiling ventilators, as they are generally shut. So I walked around the ward, and when under it asked him again if he thought that was open. A smile came over his face as he discovered, for the first time, it was a handsome fresco painting on the solid wall. And this was the only practical systematic attempt at any ventilation in any of the church buildings used as hospitals in all Washington. I have not been in any of the public schools in this city for many years, but a gentleman told me the other day that he called at one of the fashionable schools up town to get his son and take him home under his umbrella, as it had commenced raining since morning, and as he opened the school room door he was perfectly shocked, as he staggered back from the gust of horrible foul air that came rushing out of that room. I have examined most of the public schools in New York since I have those of Philadelphia. They have a way of their own of doing public business over there. There has been a good deal said about ventilating public schools of late years, and as it was such a scientific and fashionable matter they must have their schools ventilated of course. I was very unfortunate in my intercourse with the Directors of the Public Schools. I did not happen to meet with many of those high toned, liberal, scientific gentlemen that are on many of the committees, of course. Those beautiful and ornamental gratings called registers are accepted as the external proof of good ventilation, suggesting as they do the flow of an abundance of pure fresh air. So registers were bought freely and put in all the rooms, top and bottom, with splendid red and green and blue tassels, altogether making a handsome show and doing the very able and scientific gentlemen on the School Boards great credit for their enterprise and great care for the welfare and interest of the pupils under their charge. Now, let us examine the operation of these registers. Holding a handkerchief in front of them, there it remained perfectly motionless. It neither blew hot nor cold--it was perfectly lukewarm, motionless. Go to another--the same. And to another--the same. Well that is singular. Let us go on the roof and see what can be the matter. A careful search fails to discover any flues at all, but a mechanical examination shows that the coping-stone has been put on them, making all the flues as thoroughly air-tight as the solid wall--more perfectly capped than that chimney. There had been no attention paid to having the holes for the ventilating flues cut through the coping-stone. Yes, I believe that to-day a large proportion of all those flues with the elegant ventilating registers at the top and bottom of the room, are capped and made as thoroughly air-tight as the solid wall, and are as perfect shams and as useless as the elegant frescoed ventilator on the solid wall of the church hospital in Washington. I do not believe that Philadelphians have gone quite thus far in satisfying the public demand for ventilation in the public schools. They may not have _done any more_, but I believe they have not _pretended_ to do quite as much. Excuse me a few minutes; I must illustrate another very great deficiency. The simple illustration I will give you represents almost the universal condition of our hot-air furnaces. Much complaint was made of the uncomfortable feeling in one of the large public schools, where they had some 1200 or 1500 scholars. I was called to examine it. I asked, as is my usual habit, if they evaporated plenty of water. "Oh, yes; they had given the janitor full directions about keeping the evaporating pans always full." I found the evaporating pans full, sure enough, rather to my surprise, but what do you think they were filled with? Several old brooms, half charred, and some old water buckets all fallen to pieces, and other rubbish thrown in there _out of the way_. And now those of you who have been trusting to your servants to keep water in your furnaces, if you will take a candle when you go home and go down and examine your own furnaces, you will most likely find them dry, and if you go to the public schools in the morning you will see that they too are not an exception. I wish I had time to explain the dreadful effect of this want of moisture in all our artificially heated rooms. The air in winter is very dry, the moisture is squeezed out as the water is squeezed out of this sponge. But as you heat it you enlarge its volume again, and it sucks up the moisture just as this sponge does, and if you do not supply this moisture in other ways it will suck the natural moisture from your skin and your lungs, creating that dry, parched, feverish condition so noticeable in our furnace and other stove-heated rooms. Few persons realize the great amount of water necessary to be evaporated to produce the natural condition of moisture corresponding with the increased temperature given the air in many of our rooms in winter. I have copied a table expressing in grains troy the moisture contained in one cubic foot of air when saturated: Degrees Grains of vapor Fahrenheit. in cubic foot. 10 0.8 20 1.3 30 2.0 40 2.9 50 4.0 60 6.0 70 8.0 80 10.0 90 15.0 100 19.0 Thus you see, taking the air at 10° and heating up to 70°, the ordinary temperature of our rooms, requires about nine times the moisture contained in the original external atmosphere, and if heated to 100°, as most of our hot-air furnaces heat the air, it would require about twenty-three times the amount in the external atmosphere. This is a very interesting and important subject, but I am sorry I have not time for further explanation. I see some kind friend has been around and opened the doors of our meeting-house and awakened the sleepers. And now you see the lights shine, and the cheeks glow as brightly as would those of our young ladies could they be persuaded to go skating, or take a five mile walk every day, rain or shine, and sleep with the windows open, and never ride in any of our cars, or go to parties or any other public gatherings unless the buildings where they are held are well ventilated. But those dreadful drafts! People will not bear them. Let us see if we can accommodate them. Put on the roof, and here comes this dreadful current again down the ventilating flue. Well, ventilating flues have the name of being great humbugs. Let us shut them up. There are your poor consumptive patients--there they go, you see. One-half dead already, and the rest will soon follow if we cannot rescue them. Let us open the flue again. See how they brighten up as the fresh air comes in. There is no use of disputing about it, you must have _a current of fresh air coming into the house_ or you will surely die. Now let us change the programme. Let us build a fire in this fire-place in the lower story--that burns up brightly. Where does it get fresh air from now? There can be no current down the chimney. Let us search it out with this smoking taper. Ah, here it is coming down through the ventilator from the very top of the house. We will soon stop that by this cap. But see, it still burns as brightly as ever. Let us try again. Ah, do you see the smoke rushing down the second story chimney and across to the stairway, and down the stairs, and across the room again to this fire? _There is a valuable hint._ Have you not noticed frequently gas in the room from the fire-place or stove, and especially at night? And do you see how easily it would be to account for it if the house were shut up tight at night, with a large fire in the kitchen or furnace in the cellar, and but a small fire in the second story? Don't you see how the whole products of combustion, all the poisonous gases, may be drawn out into the room? You often notice accounts of whole families being smothered to death in one night, but many seem to think if they are not smothered to death the first night, that it is not so very dangerous after all, and not knowing how to remedy it easily go on from day to day and sometimes escape the whole winter with a little of their lives left. Now, let us put out the fire in the first story and make one in the second. You must remember that this is not a fashionable double ceiled and plastered air-tight house. It is much more open, in proportion to its size, than any ordinary house. And now, as this lower flue has been so highly heated, it may take some time for the fire in the second story fire-place to become heated sufficiently in excess to cause the air to draw down the longest flue to the bottom of the house and up the stairs to the second story fire-place, but it will soon do it. I wish you to notice one thing here particularly, and each one apply it to your own particular case. You know the lower part of the house is closed up tight to keep out the robbers, and if great care is not taken to give an abundant supply of fresh air to your chambers otherwise, it will be drawn up through the hall out of your kitchen and cellar, and as the cook has left the range lid off and shut the dampers, you will have a suffocating smell of gas all over the house. But the worst danger of all is the air that may be drawn in from an untrapped sewer or cesspool. This is a very common but great source of ill-health. Sanitarians have given much attention to this subject lately, and have been astonished at the magnitude of the evil. I have long maintained that a family might go to the highest and most healthy location in the world, and by a little carelessness might accumulate sufficient filth around them, and by closing up the house at night and allowing the foul gases from untrapped sewers and cesspools to enter through the halls to their sleeping rooms, to thus make what would otherwise be a healthy place a very unhealthy one. As a case in point, I would refer to a very interesting report of Doctors Palmer, Ford, and Earle, giving an account of their investigations of the causes of a severe epidemic that occurred in the summer of 1864 in a young ladies' seminary in Massachusetts. "The Maplewood Institute" is situated in Pittsfield, one of the most beautiful of those charming New England villages, which, to external appearances, are the very emblem of all that is pure and healthy. Yet even in this lovely place, from an ignorant or careless arrangement of the drains and cess-pools, much of the foul gas generated there found its way into the building,[2] making sixty-six out of seventy-four young ladies sick, fifty-seven of whom had the typhoid fever and thirteen died. Many similar cases are frequently occurring, some few of which, like this, are carefully investigated, and the causes removed. Many more, however, go unnoticed, and are accepted as special dispensations of Providence, when it is all due to our own negligence. I want to show you an arrangement that ought to be in every house. We have seen the power of a fire to create a draft, and if you will think a little you will notice that the kitchen fire is the most considerable and most permanent power in ordinary dwellings, and this ought to be made use of to ventilate the kitchen, water-closet and bath-room in every house. But you must not make an opening directly into the kitchen flue; if you do you will interfere with the draft of the kitchen fire, and if you interfere with the kitchen fire you will soon wish yourself at anything but keeping house. But we can easily get over that trouble. We will use this square glass box again to represent a flue. I don't mean this to represent the size--it ought to be twice that size. In the centre we will put a cold pipe, to show you that a pipe without any heat in it would only cause the foul air to tumble down into the room. Thus you see the smoke descending. We will substitute a pipe with a gas light to heat it. Now you see what a rapid current there is out of this large flue. See what a splendid arrangement this is for ventilating, and it may be extended so as to ventilate the whole house. It is not necessary that the room to be ventilated should be adjoining, but a pipe can be carried between the floors 50 or 100 feet. I had an opportunity, during the late war, of thoroughly testing this system of ventilation in the government hospitals. Let me say here that a very common mistake in making ventilating flues is, that they are entirely too small to be of any value. One of these little Philadelphia flues, four by nine inches, made with rough bricks, and nearly or entirely choked up with mortar, as many of them are frequently found, is of no account. They are simply a deception, and a perfect provocation to a sensible man. [Illustration: Fig. 15.] I commenced by making some in Washington, for single wards, thirty inches square, but in St. Louis, and Louisville, and Nashville, where buildings four or five stories high were used for hospitals, I made them much larger, some three feet square and some four feet by six feet. Some buildings, where the ventilation was so bad and the water-closets were so offensive that the government had to abandon them, I had ventilated by these immense shafts, heated by the kitchen and laundry fires, which proved thoroughly efficient and entirely satisfactory. I had hoped to have time to discuss the subject of heating more fully in connection with ventilation, but cannot; but I will state, in the simplest manner, a few of the leading points first. _You must have fresh air all the time._ In summer you can get it by opening the doors and windows. In winter it must be warmed before entering the room. It must not enter the room cold and flow across the floor to the other side before it reaches the heating apparatus. You can bear a large amount of fresh air if it strikes you in the face and evenly over the whole body, but never let a jet of cold air blow upon any small portion of your body. To avoid these local currents sucking in at cracks, you must make provision for the introduction of an amount of air _larger_ than the sum of all these cracks, and your exhaust flue besides. This air must be partially warmed before entering. If this is done by a hot-air furnace, it must have a large fresh air box, which should be from eighteen inches to two feet for a large house. It should have a large evaporating vessel, with a ball-cock to supply it. You cannot get the servants to attend to it, and you must never allow the air from your cellar to enter your furnace to be driven up stairs. Never allow the furnace to get red-hot. A hot water furnace disturbs the natural conditions of the air the least, and, on that account, is a very healthy means of artificially heating air. But they are necessarily expensive, and so few persons really appreciate the value of pure air, that but few will go to the expense of introducing them. It is a mistake to suppose that they do not dry the air, so to speak. You cannot elevate the temperature without increasing the capacity for moisture. A hot water furnace, therefore, requires the artificial evaporation of water to give the warmed air its true hygrometric condition. Heating the air by steam is the next most healthy means; as the surfaces used are heated a little hotter, less of it answers the same purpose. The first cost is therefore less. It is the most rapid and convenient means of conveying heat to any distant point of anything now in use. Under the pressure of an ordinary boiler it will travel seven miles in one minute. The time I hope is not far distant when the subject of heating and ventilation will receive an amount of attention due to its importance. I believe then we shall have steam pipes laid through our streets, the same as gas and water now are. The present system of each man keeping up separate fires all over his house is as crude, and extravagant, and unnecessary as it would be for every man to make his own gas or have his own well for water. Where a steam furnace is used, two-thirds of the heating surface should be put below the floor and fresh air brought into it, and from there conducted to the rooms through large pipes. This warmed air should be let into the room at the floor, and an opening into an exhaust flue, two-thirds the size of the inlet, should be provided at the floor for the escape of the foul air. The remaining one-third of the heating surface should be exposed in the halls and some in the other parts of the house, to heat by direct radiation, but under no circumstances should a room or office be occupied _heated exclusively by direct radiation_ from exposed steam pipes. It is one of the worst, most unhealthy, _killing systems_ in existence. Steam furnaces require the evaporation of an additional amount of moisture as well as any other system of heating. According to Dr. Wetheral's investigation, it would require the evaporation on some days of nearly forty pounds of water every minute in the Senate Chamber to maintain the proper hygrometric condition. Probably one of the very best arrangements is to have a good steam furnace, with a large fresh air box letting in an abundance of air moderately warmed, and overflowing the house with this, and some direct radiation in the halls, and a good, bright, cheerful open fire in the family sitting-room. But if you cannot have a steam or hot water furnace, you can make a room very comfortable indeed with a stove, if you will but introduce all the fresh air required for the room directly against or on top of the stove. No stove ought to be put up without having a supply of fresh air from the outside, and a large evaporating vessel, kept constantly filled with water, with an opening in the heated flue near the floor for the escape of the foul air. In conclusion, allow me to urge upon you to examine your furnace this evening or to-morrow morning, and if there is no fresh air box communicating with the external atmosphere, go to the nearest carpenter's shop before going to your business, and get him to come at the earliest possible moment and put in a good large one, and if he asks you where you want the damper in the cold air box, tell him you don't want any. Dampers in cold air boxes are handy things to have in the house, when used properly, but, like fire-arms, are very dangerous if you do not understand them. Yes, dampers in cold air boxes and other contrivances for keeping the fresh air out of houses, have killed more persons than all the fire-arms ever made in this country or any other. If you have no evaporating vessel in the furnace, stop at your furnace man's, and tell him to put in two good large evaporating vessels in such a position that they will evaporate two or three buckets of water a day in cold weather. And if you have a stove at your office, stop on your way down and buy a good large earthen pan to set on the top of the stove, and keep it always full of water. Make a pipe for the inlet of fresh air to every stove over which you have any control, and never remain in a room one day without a good opening at the floor for the escape of foul air. And from my own experience, and that of many others whom I know to have given much attention to this subject, I can assure you, with the fullest confidence, that you will be most amply rewarded for your care in this respect by increased health, strength and happiness, and by the reasonable prospect of a long life. VENTILATION. THE GRAND PRIZE AWARDED AT THE PARIS EXHIBITION. Added to the many other gratifying signs of a rapidly increasing interest in the all-important subject of the proper supply of pure air to our houses, is the awarding of the grand prize of the Paris Exhibition to Dr. Evans, for an American sanitary collection. The Sanitary Commission, during our late war, acted upon the principle since expressed by the report of the Board of Health of New York. They say: "And viewing only the causes of preventable diseases and their fatal results, we unhesitatingly state that the very first sanitary want in New York and Brooklyn is VENTILATION--ventilation supplied in all existing tenant-houses, work-rooms, school-rooms and places of assemblage--and in all that shall hereafter be constructed." The early recognition during the late war, both by the Sanitary Commission and the government officials, of the important fact that many more men are killed by breathing foul air than are killed by the enemies' bullets, led them to use very active exertions to secure good ventilation in hospitals and camps, and to teach the men themselves the value thereof. The result has been highly satisfactory. The fact that we must make some positive provision for a constant supply of fresh air to every occupied room, and not rely on accidental cracks and openings, is now very generally felt. The simple, practical and efficient means used by the government has done much towards creating this wholesome public opinion. The annexed plan (excepting a stove and twelve beds, omitted from centre of plan, indicated by the space) is a copy of one I furnished the Committee; and which was faithfully executed in preparing one of the models of hospitals, the arrangements of which have been so highly appreciated, and has shared one of the grand prizes at the Paris Exhibition. It is a representative plan, showing the general arrangements of wards in a large number of the hospitals. [Illustration: Fig. 1.] The special arrangements of flues, V, for winter ventilation, and the introduction of the fresh air around the stove, were not introduced into the hospitals in Philadelphia, built at the commencement of the war. And the subsequent orders of the Surgeon General and Quarter Master General for the introduction thereof were protested against by the Surgeons of Philadelphia, owing probably partially to their proverbial objection to changes of any kind, and partially to that dread of "ventilation" made but too popular by the many erroneous theories which propose to introduce the fresh air directly into the room, and at times, too, when it is even below the freezing point, without first warming it. These arrangements, shown in the accompanying plan and section, were thoroughly tested, however, in many of the hospitals subsequently built in many of the Western cities. The plan of ridge ventilation, shown in the accompanying section, I applied first in St. Louis, in the summer of 1863. It is the principle of the Emerson ventilator applied to ridge ventilation. Much trouble had been experienced with other forms on account of their allowing the storms to beat in, and the difficulty of opening and closing them with the various changes of wind; this form fully remedies those objections, and can be left open without inconvenience at all times while snowing or raining. It uses the force of the wind, whenever there is a current passing over the top of the building, for sucking the air out of the ward, because the air in passing across the top of the building is deflected from the straight line by the angle of the roof-board, which creates a partial vacuum in the space below, which, with the friction of the passing current with that coming out of the ward, makes an outward draught, varying in proportion to the velocity of the external current. This is often very useful, especially in summer, when there is not sufficient difference between the external air and that in the ward to create a current. There is often a considerable force in the passing current at the top of the building when there is much less below. [Illustration: Fig. 2.] But of course these openings had to be closed in winter to prevent all the heat from escaping. It then became necessary in wards that had no fireplaces, to make something as substitutes therefor. Wooden shafts or flues were made to answer this purpose. I at first made large wooden boxes, placing them in the centre of the wards, and allowing them to extend down to within twelve or eighteen inches of the floor. This was of great advantage, but as the true principle of ventilation is to have an opening for the exit of the contaminated air at the feet of each occupant of a room, or at the head of the bed of each patient in a hospital, it was soon observed that these shafts were too few and far between to make a very perfect arrangement. The necessity for providing for the escape of the foul air from the level of the floor in winter, so as to utilize the heat, was, after much opposition, finally established and officially acknowledged by the government officers. Then arrangements were made for its introduction into the government hospitals in a more perfect manner. I believe in no case, however, was it so fully carried out as to place a ventilating flue between each bed, but in some they were arranged, as shown (marked V) in the accompanying plans between every other two beds. These flues were carried together and extended through the ridge of the roof and capped as an Emerson ventilator; the opening into the large flue, extending to just below the ceiling, was closed in winter at all times, excepting when the room was too warm. This was for the exhaust, but of no less importance was the supply. The popular dread of ventilation arises in a great measure from the supposition that good ventilation implies a strong draught of cold air upon your back or feet or some other unfortunately exposed place. Such an unfortunate occurrence must be fully remedied in any system of ventilation before it can become popular. As the simplest way of getting at this, all the fresh air required to supply the partial vacuum created by the exhausting shafts was brought in around the stoves, and partially warmed before entering. At the first the stoves were entirely encased, and the fresh air allowed to encircle them completely, but experience soon demonstrated the desirableness of having a portion of the hot stove exposed for direct radiation, so that the feeble and chilly ones might come near to it and warm themselves. There should always be a considerable amount of direct radiation in every hospital; that from an open fire is the best, but that from a stove or steam-pipe is very good. Arrangements were also made for the evaporation of a large amount of water. As the first winter approached after the commencement of the war, the idea seemed almost shocking to me of putting the sick and wounded men in such open barracks, generally without plastering, and made, as many of them were, with rough boards and very open. But experience soon taught me the very great superiority of these light and airy buildings over many of the elaborately finished, dark, air-tight structures, such as hotels, colleges, new-fashioned asylums, &c., which the government was compelled to take for hospital purposes. In fact, when completed with the ventilation as above described, with the abundant sunlight on both sides, without any obstructing partitions and abundantly warmed in winter, and with the proper supply of moisture, they made undoubtedly the most comfortable and wholesome class of buildings, as a whole, that have ever been erected for hospital purposes, not excepting even many of the recent elaborately finished buildings, where not unfrequently too much dependence has been placed on the very meagre and insufficient effect produced by attempts at artificial ventilation, instead of relying more upon the great natural means of ventilation--an abundance of large open windows, open fires and good ventilating stoves. The ventilation of the latrines or water-closets of a hospital, as well as any other place, is a matter of great importance. In the spring of 1863, I had put up in a hospital in Washington a ventilating shaft for the latrine room, similar to the one shown on the plans. This was an experiment, but it proved so satisfactory that it was subsequently ordered to be applied in all the principal hospitals. The difficulty in the isolated wards was, that it required a separate fire in each shaft in the summer. Where it is possible to get it near the kitchen or bake-oven fire, that answers a splendid purpose; but in the single wards it is not necessary to keep up a constant fire; a few sticks of wood every morning answer the purpose of keeping the air in the shaft warmer than the surrounding atmosphere, which, of course, creates the proper draught. These shafts were made very large--never less than thirty inches square and sometimes three feet by six feet. The popular plan of opening the water-closet windows and allowing much of the fresh air to enter the building that way was strenuously avoided; the windows in the closet were fastened shut, and then the air to supply this large exhaust shaft was drawn from the adjoining ward or room, which ventilated that ward and prevented any unpleasant odor from the closets returning into the ward. Wherever it was possible, a sheet iron or cast iron pipe was carried up into the centre of this shaft from the kitchen, laundry, bakery or any other constant fire, and where no heat from a permanent fire or from a steam coil could be obtained, a small stove for the purpose was provided. LEWIS W. LEEDS, _Germantown, Pa._ 7th mo. 26th, 1867. _The subjoined are a few of the Letters received from prominent Sanitarians and others._ Office of the Superintendent of Health, Providence, August 5, 1867. Friend Leeds. Your Lectures on Ventilation have been received. I am much interested in them, and think the views given are correct. I hope they will be widely circulated. Too much cannot be said to the people upon the subject. Ventilation is all-important. Indeed, I think that if the air could be constantly kept in motion, the worst sources of impure air in our cities would be rendered almost free from danger. In seasons of epidemic cholera, the most oppressive feature of danger is the stagnation which exists in the atmosphere. There was good sense and true philosophy in the old custom of burning bonfires to keep off disease. I must close, wishing you much success in your efforts to awaken the people to the importance of this subject. Truly yours, EDWIN M. SNOW, M. D., Superintendent of Health. * * * * * Bangor, Maine, August 23, 1867. My Dear Leeds. Your pamphlet was duly received. I have read it with much interest, and believe it to be worthy of extended circulation. It is the clearest paper on the subject I have yet read. Yours, in haste, A. C. HAMLIN, M. D. * * * * * 64 Madison Avenue, New York, Aug. 23, 1867. My Dear Friend. I have just read your Lectures on "Ventilation," and I am very much obliged to you for the entertainment and instruction they have given me. You have very happily hit upon a style which is neither flippant nor dry. I am sure the lectures will be read, and if read, they will do a great deal of good. I have all my life been talking and writing in this direction, imploring the people to take less medicine and more pure air; and I feel truly grateful for the help your strong shoulders have given me in what has thus far proved to be a labor of Hercules. Your particular method of ventilating buildings I had many opportunities of proving while I was Medical Inspector U. S. A., and I assure you that no plan was ever more simple and inexpensive--none could have been more effective. Indeed, I may say that I never knew it to fail. To you, therefore, I fully believe the country is indebted for the lives of many thousands of men. With sentiments of esteem, I remain yours truly, FRANK H. HAMILTON, M. D., Prof. Principles of Surgery, Military Surgery, Hygiene, &c., Bellevue Hospital Medical College, N. Y. Author of Work on Fractures and Dislocations, Treatise on Military Surgery, &c. L. W. LEEDS, Esq. * * * * * Office of the Metropolitan Board of Health, No. 301 Mott Street, New York, August 26th, 1867. Friend Leeds. Your Lectures on Ventilation have given me much pleasure, and have renewed my confidence in the utility of popular instruction upon the subject. I heartily thank you for the thoughtful care with which you have set forth all the essential principles of ventilation, in language so free from technical words, and so full of plain and homely illustration, that even an uneducated reader can fully understand all you have written. The good Dr. D. Boswell Reid, Dr. Wyman and myself had each attempted to use such a style of explanation and instruction; but you have far excelled us all. The first want of every living being is fresh air, and unless the human lungs are supplied with such air constantly at the rate of from ten to thirty cubic feet every minute, by night as well as by day, perfect health and vigor cannot be preserved. Then, too, there are exhaled from the surface of the body and from the lungs, such quantities of waste organic matter, which tend to immediate putridity, that it, together with the carbonic acid, would keep the human body immersed in a deadly vapor of these exhalations, were not fresh air supplied. The illustrations by which you have made these truths easily understood, are admirably given in your lectures, and the method, by which you would best insure success in removing the foul and supplying the pure fresh air in every place where persons live or sleep, are, as I believe, from my own careful studies of this subject, most correct and trustworthy. Indeed, I am able to say that, in my examinations of the vast number of hospitals and buildings which you ventilated during the late war, under authority from the intelligent and humane Quartermaster-General of the army, the proof of entire success in your work was everywhere witnessed. Simplicity, invariable certainty and a liberal sufficiency characterizes these admirable methods of yours. I wish every family in the land had a copy of these lectures. Sincerely yours, ELISHA HARRIS, M. D., Corresponding Secretary Metropolitan Board of Health. To LEWIS W. LEEDS, Esq. * * * * * VAUX, WITHERS & Co., Architects, No. 110 Broadway, New York, August 27th, 1867. Dear Mr. Leeds. I am glad to receive your Lectures in printed form, and trust that they may be widely read throughout the community. Having been in the habit for several years past, of consulting with you professionally in regard to the arrangements to be made for heating and ventilation in plans for public and private buildings, I take this opportunity to acknowledge the value of the aid thus given; and as I feel assured, from a lengthened personal experience, that your thorough knowledge of the subject, both theoretically and practically, is calculated to render your assistance particularly valuable in the adjustment of complex and intricate plans, I trust that one result of the circulation of your interesting pamphlet may be to introduce you more widely to members of the architectural profession. I remain, Dear Mr. Leeds, Yours faithfully, CALVERT VAUX. LEWIS W. LEEDS, Heating and Ventilating Engineer. * * * * * 110 Broadway, New York, Aug. 30th, 1867. Mr. LEWIS W. LEEDS was employed early in the war of the rebellion by the Sanitary Commission, as an agent to urge the necessity to the health and strength of the army, of the thorough ventilation of tents and quarters, and to devise and suggest to the proper officers the adoption of the best means for this purpose. At a later period of the war, at the suggestion of the Commission, the Quartermaster's Department engaged his services, and gave him large discretionary powers for the ventilation of hospitals. He was thus employed during all of the war, with great advantage, and the improvements which he brought about were unquestionably the means of saving thousands of lives. * * * * Mr. Leeds has a special talent for making improvements in houses of ordinary construction, by means which may be readily adopted, and with materials which may be anywhere procured without difficulty or great expense. Mr. Leeds' course of lectures on Ventilation is calculated to supply instructions of great practical utility. An invaluable addition to the health, happiness and wealth of the nation would result, if they could be delivered before every school in the country. FRED. LAW OLMSTED, First General Secretary of the Sanitary Commission. * * * * * Treasury Department, Office of the Supervising Architect, Sept. 11th, 1867. My Dear Friend. Your valuable Lectures on Ventilation have been received, and have been read with much pleasure, more especially as you are about the only person I have ever met, who, after making the ventilation and heating of buildings a specialty, has condescended to follow the laws of nature, and provide the means of adapting them to our artificial modes of life. Your lectures show a thorough study and knowledge of the principles involved, which are, like all natural principles, very simple if once understood. I have also to take this means of acknowledging the valuable aid that I have received from you on many occasions, and to express a hope that you will not despair, but relying on the adage that "truth is mighty" &c., go on with your exposures of the absurdities of the complicated and costly humbugs that are so fashionable at present, and trust you will succeed not only in your missionary labors, but find them pecuniarily profitable. Very respectfully, A. B. MULLETT, Supervising Architect. LEWIS W. LEEDS, Esq., Engineer Ventilation and Heating, Germantown, Penn'a. * * * * * FOOTNOTES. [Footnote 1: I mean merely pecuniarily--in dollars and cents;--the cost in physical pain and mental anxiety, of course, cannot by computed in dollars and cents.] [Footnote 2: In addition to which there appeared to be a deficiency in the arrangements for ventilation.] 
59379	----	by The Internet Archive. Transcriber Notes Text emphasis is denoted as _Italics_ and =Bold=. Whole numbers and fractional parts denoted as: 33-3/4. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FARMERS' BULLETIN No. 1279 PLAIN CONCRETE for FARM USE The successful and economical use of concrete involves the selection of suitable materials, the correct proportioning of mixtures in the development of qualities to meet specific requirements, the proper placing and the care of the green concrete. A concrete of great strength is uneconomical if a weaker mixture will serve and a cheap or weak concrete is costly if it does not fulfill all requirements. The cost of concrete depends not only upon the price of the materials and labor but also upon the judicious use of the two. Lack of foresight in locating the mixing plant, in the design of forms, and in planning the successive operations may cause unnecessary expense, while neglect of any one of the precautions which should be observed is likely to result in unsatisfactory work. The bulletin discusses the requirements of good concrete and describes the making and placing of plain concrete according to the best practice. Washington, D. C. Issued October, 1922 PLAIN CONCRETE FOR FARM USE. T. A. H. Miller, _Agricultural Engineer, Division of Agricultural Engineering, Bureau of Public Roads_. CONTENTS. Page. Introduction 1 Materials 1 Proportioning the materials 6 Quantities of materials required 7 Consistency 8 Estimating 9 Forms 10 Mixing 13 Placing 18 Care of concrete 21 Protection from freezing weather 21 Contraction and expansion joints 23 Lintels 23 Surface finish 24 Concrete exposed to fire 25 Water-tight concrete 26 INTRODUCTION. Portland cement concrete is the mass formed by mixing Portland cement, sand, gravel (or particles of other suitable materials), and water. The quality of concrete may be made to conform to certain requirements which vary with the purpose of the structure in which the material is to be used; economy, strength, water-tightness, fire resistance, or resistance to wear and shock may be the chief requisite. The character of the constituent materials, the proportions in which they are used, the consistency, the method of mixing, and the placing and curing of the concrete are important factors in securing the desired qualities of the finished product. Total failure or a product which does not give the service expected is often the result of the nonobservance of practices recognized as necessary in the preparation and use of concrete. This bulletin is intended to assist the inexperienced in making and using concrete suitable for general farm construction and is confined to a discussion of the rudiments of plain (not reinforced) concrete work. MATERIALS. CEMENT. Portland cement is used because it is the only kind adapted to general construction. Other cements are manufactured but they possess individual characteristics that restrict their use. The word Portland is not a trade name, but signifies the kind and distinguishes it from the slag, natural, and other cements. A number of brands of Portland cement are manufactured, most of which are made to meet the requirements of a fixed standard adopted by the United States Government and the American Society for Testing Materials. Cement always should be tested for use in important work, but this is impractical for the user of small amounts and it is generally safe practice to omit the test if a reliable brand of Portland cement of American manufacture is selected, especially if the dealer's or manufacturer's guaranty that it meets the standard is secured. The following simple test for soundness is easily made and is on the side of caution. Make a ball, about 1-1/2 inches in diameter, if neat cement and water; place it under a wet cloth and keep it moist for 24 hours, then put the ball in a vessel of water; allow the water to come to the boiling point slowly and to boil for 3 hours. A good cement will not be affected, but an inferior one will check, crack, or go to pieces entirely. Portland cement is shipped in paper bags, cloth sacks, and wooden barrels (sometimes in bulk). For the average user the cloth sack is the best container, as it is easier to handle; and while the manufacturers charge more for this kind of package, they allow a rebate for the return of the sacks in good condition. A sack of Portland cement weighs 94 pounds and a barrel contains the equivalent of four sacks. STORING. As cement readily absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, it should be stored in a dry place; if exposed to dampness it soon becomes lumpy, or even a solid mass, and in this condition it is useless and should be thrown away. The lumps caused by pressure in piling the sacks are not injurious. They can be pulverized easily, thus distinguishing them from those due to dampness. Cement never should be stored on the ground. Build a raised platform for it and keep it away from the sides of the shelter. As it is heavy, care should be taken not to overload the supporting floor. FINE AGGREGATE (SAND). All grains, small pebbles, or particles of broken stone are considered as sand if they will pass through a wire screen with one-fourth inch meshes. The particles or grains should be hard and well graded and should vary in size, as a stronger concrete is thus obtained than when the size of the grains is nearly uniform. If a large proportion of the sand is very fine an extra quantity of cement should be used and if exceptionally fine it is advisable to use 25 per cent more cement. The sand should be clean; that is, free from vegetable matter, loam, or any considerable amount of clay. If the hands are soiled when a small quantity of sand is rubbed between them the following test should be made: Put 4 inches of sand into a pint preserving jar, fill with clear water to within an inch of the top, fasten the lid, and shake the jar vigorously until the whole is thoroughly mixed. Set the jar aside and allow the contents to settle. The sand will settle to the bottom with the clay and loam on top of it. If more than three-eighths of an inch of clay or loam shows, the sand should be rejected or washed. The difference in fineness and color shows clearly the line of division between the clay or loam and the sand. [Illustration: Fig. 1.--Sand and gravel washing trough.] Should sand require washing the simplest way for small quantities is to build a loose board platform from 10 to 15 feet long, with one end higher than the other. On the lower end and sides nail 2 by 6 inch boards. Spread the sand over the platform in a layer 3 or 4 inches thick and wash with water. The water may be supplied by any means which will cause agitation of the sand and allow the lighter material to run off with the water. When pressure or a head is obtainable the water is most easily applied by means of a garden hose. The washing should be started at the higher end and the water allowed to run through the sand and over the 2 by 6 inch piece at the bottom. Figure 1 illustrates a convenient trough for washing larger quantities. A small amount of clay, provided it is not in lumps, does not injure sand, but amounts over 10 per cent should be washed out. COARSE AGGREGATE (STONE, GRAVEL, ETC.). The larger particles used in concrete may be gravel, broken stone, air-cooled blast-furnace slag, or other suitable materials. The coarse aggregate should be sound and clean, that is, free from disintegrated or soft particles, loam, clay, or vegetable matter. Air-cooled blast-furnace slag should weigh at least 70 pounds per cubic foot. The best results are obtained from a mixture of sizes graded from those retained on a one-fourth inch screen to those passing a three-fourths to 2 inch ring, depending upon the work. Ordinarily the greatest dimension of any particle should not be over one-fourth of the thickness of the concrete work. GRAVEL. Gravel which is too dirty for use usually can be detected by observation. It may be washed in the same manner as sand. Lumps of clay should be eliminated and care should be taken to see that the gravel is not coated with a film of clay or loam which will prevent the bonding of the cement. BROKEN STONE. Broken stone should be clean, hard, and of a size suited to the character of the work, and the same care in grading should be exercised as in the case of gravel. Trap, granite, hard limestone, and hard sandstone are commonly used. The composition and physical character of the stones should be considered, as some possess qualities that limit their use under certain conditions (see Substitutes for gravel). Field stones are common in many localities and their use, when crushed, may be economical. The finer particles, after the dust is removed, can be used as sand. Small stone crushers, operated by three or four horsepower gasoline engines, can be purchased at a relatively low price and may prove profitable if a large quantity of stone is needed. BANK-RUN GRAVEL. Bank or creek gravel, which will answer the purpose of sand and gravel combined, sometimes can be obtained, and frequently it is used in small jobs of concrete work just as it comes from the pit or creek. Although such gravel occasionally contains nearly the right proportions of sand and gravel, in the majority of sand pits and gravel banks there is a great variation in the sizes of the grains and pebbles or gravel and in the relative quantity of each. It is advisable to screen the sand and gravel and to remix them in the correct proportions, as well-graded aggregates make stronger concrete and, ordinarily, enough cement will be saved to pay for the cost of screening. Experience has shown that it is advisable to screen bank gravel twice; first over a screen with large meshes to eliminate particles too large for use. The size of the mesh will depend upon the nature of the work involved (see Coarse aggregate); then the material which has passed through this screen should be sifted again over a screen with one-fourth inch meshes. All material which passes the latter screen may be considered sand and should conform to the characteristics discussed under "Fine aggregate." SUBSTITUTES FOR GRAVEL OR STONE. For general work gravel or broken stone always is preferred to other coarse aggregate. Other materials at times are easier to obtain and, when used with discretion, will provide a satisfactory concrete. Broken terra cotta, brick, and old concrete, if hard and strong, may be used for unimportant work where no great strength is required, but special care should be taken that the particles do not show on the finished surface. The maxim that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link applies to concrete. If the coarse aggregate is weaker than the cement mortar, as in the case of some sandstones, it should be used with caution. The aggregate may have properties that render it unsuitable for use under certain conditions; for instance, cinders should not be used if water-tightness or strength is expected, but they are useful for fireproofing. Material that disintegrates or flakes when heated is undesirable in places exposed to high temperature; thus marble and some limestones should not be used in fireplaces. Some aggregates when exposed at the surface of concrete are apt to cause discolorations, and when this would be objectionable aggregates of this type should be avoided. Flat or elongated slab-like fragments should be avoided, as particles of this shape do not bond well; slate and shale are examples. CINDERS. Cinders should be composed of hard, clean, vitreous clinkers, free from sulphides, soot, and unburned coal or ashes. As a precaution against the presence of small amounts of detrimental substances, cinders should be soaked thoroughly with water 24 hours before being used. If clean they will not discolor the hands when a small quantity is rubbed between the palms. Cinder concrete, on account of its light weight, commonly is used for filling between sleepers of floors and grading roofs, and frequently for fireproofing, for which it is very effective. Cinders should never be used when the concrete is to be subjected to heavy loads or abrasion. LAVA ROCK. Lava rock varies widely in chemical composition and physical qualities. In some instances lavas are so light and frothy or contain so large a proportion of easily oxidizable material that they are wholly unsuited for concrete work. In general, the lava rock found in the Northwestern States is a suitable substitute for gravel. Rhyolite, a light colored volcanic rock, and many of the darker colored basaltic lavas can well be used for concrete for building purposes. WATER. Water should be clean and free from strong acid and alkali. Sea or brackish water should not be used if fresh water can be obtained. PROPORTIONING THE MATERIALS. In mixing concrete various proportions of cement, sand, gravel, and water are employed, depending upon the purpose for which the concrete is to be used. The ideal mixture is one in which all the spaces or voids between the grains of sand are filled with the cement and all the voids in the gravel are filled with the cement-sand mortar. This perfection is seldom attained, because the voids in each lot of gravel and sand vary slightly, and in order to be absolutely safe a little more sand and cement than will just fill the voids are used. The strongest concrete is not required in every structure, and, in many instances, the cost of it would be unwarranted. For important work involving large quantities of materials of unknown qualities, tests should be made to determine the best proportions. Such tests, being rather complicated, are made usually in a laboratory, and are not practical for the user of small quantities of concrete. Various proportions have been tested by experienced engineers to determine which, under average conditions, will develop the greatest strength, best resist wear, and assure greatest impermeability or water-tightness. The mixtures given below have been found to meet the requirements indicated, and having been adopted as arbitrary standards, are recommended for use in farm concrete work. The amount of water required is discussed under "Consistency." ARBITRARY MIXTURES. =Rich mixture.=--Used for concrete subject to high stresses or where exceptional water-tightness and resistance to abrasion are desired: 1:1-1/2:3; i. e., 1 part cement, 1-1/2 parts sand, and 3 parts gravel. =Standard mixture.=--Used generally for reinforced concrete and water-tight work: 1:2:4; i. e., 1 part cement, 2 parts sand, and 4 parts gravel. =Medium mixture.=--Used for plain concrete of moderate strength: 1:3:5; i. e., 1 part cement, 3 parts sand, and 5 parts gravel. Leaner mixtures are sometimes used after a test has proved them to be suitable for the work at hand. It will be noticed that always in indicating the proportions the first number refers to the cement, the second to the sand, and the third to the gravel. The three materials must be measured by volume, using the same unit. The cubic foot is a convenient measure, because a sack of cement, weighing 94 pounds, is considered to contain 1 cubic foot. When the coarse aggregate (gravel, etc.) is omitted the mixture is generally spoken of as mortar and the proportions are indicated thus, 1:2, meaning 1 part cement and 2 parts sand. Mortar is used for plastering, stucco, top coats of floors, and for laying masonry. QUANTITIES OF MATERIALS REQUIRED. More concrete can be made from given volumes of aggregates if the gravel used is graded from fine to coarse than if the particles are too nearly of one size, because the small stones help to fill the voids between the larger ones and less sand-cement mortar is required. The extra mortar thus adds to the volume of the concrete. A common mistake to be guarded against is to assume that the volume of concrete produced is equal to the quantity of sand plus the gravel as indicated in the proportion. For instance a 1:2:4 mixture will not produce 6 cubic yards of concrete, if 2 yards of sand and 4 yards of gravel are used, because the sand will lodge in the voids between the pebbles. If 6 cubic yards of concrete are desired it will be necessary to use 2.7 cubic yards of sand and 5.34 cubic yards of gravel. Table 1 shows the quantity of cement, sand, and gravel required under average conditions for the indicated proportions. Table 1.--_Materials for 1 cubic yard of rammed concrete._ Proportions. | | | | | | Cement.| Sand. | Gravel.| Cement. | Sand. | Gravel. -------+-------+--------+----------+----------+----------- | | | _Sacks._ |_Cu. yds._| _Cu. yds._ 1 | 1 | --- | 19.20 | 0.74 | --- 1 | 2 | --- | 13.48 | 1.00 | --- 1 | 2-1/2| --- | 11.00 | 1.01 | --- 1 | 3 | --- | 10.40 | 1.16 | --- 1 | 1 | 2 | 10.52 | .39 | 0.78 1 | 1-1/2| 3 | 7.64 | .42 | .85 1 | 2 | 4 | 6.04 | .45 | .89 1 | 2-1/2| 5 | 4.96 | .46 | .92 1 | 3 | 5 | 4.64 | .52 | .86 1 | 3 | 6 | 4.24 | .47 | .94 -------+-------+--------+----------+----------+---------- CONSISTENCY. The quantity of water used in mixing has a very great influence on the strength of the concrete. An excess of water weakens the concrete, while an insufficient amount prevents thorough mixing. [Illustration: Fig. 2.--The result of using too dry a mixture, lack of spading and careless placing; note irregularity of layers and poor bonding.] Therefore, only sufficient water should be used to produce a workable or plastic mixture. Recent tests have proved that to secure the greatest strength the concrete should be mixed considerably drier than has heretofore been customary. Of course, for thin walls containing closely placed reinforcement, or for water-tightness, a fairly wet mix is necessary. A little experience will show the proper amount of water to use. A very rough estimate of the quantity of water required in mixing for general work is 4 to 5 gallons to each sack of cement. Three degrees of consistency (corresponding to different proportions of water) are used in general practice, namely, wet, medium, and dry. In the light of recent investigations it is thought the wet mixture of present-day practice contains too much water. The following definitions are therefore recommended: =Wet mixture.= One that does not flow readily and yet can not be piled up. It is recommended for thin sections when reinforcement is closely placed. =Medium mixture.= One that is between the wet and dry mixture. This consistency is recommended for general work. =Dry mixture.= One about like damp earth. If a handful is squeezed it will retain its shape. This consistency requires thorough ramming to eliminate voids and is used when forms are to be removed immediately, but should not be used where a water-tight job is expected. The porous structure of the concrete in Figure 2 is due to the fact that it was placed as a dry mixture. ESTIMATING. ESTIMATING CONCRETE. In estimating the amount of concrete in a given piece of work and the quantities of materials required, the unit of measurement is usually the cubic yard (27 cubic feet). The following examples will explain best the method of determining the quantities required: =Example 1.=--A wall 9 inches thick, 12 feet high, and 30 feet long has a door opening 3 feet wide and 6 feet high, also a footing 18 inches wide and 9 inches deep. The concrete is to be mixed in the proportions of 1:2:4. The volume of the footing is found by multiplying together the dimensions expressed in feet, thus, 1-1/2 � 3/4 � 30 = 33-3/4 cubic feet. Similarly, the volume in the wall is 3/4 � 12 � 30, less the door opening 3/4 � 3 � 6 = 256-1/2 cubic feet. The total volume in footing and wall is 290-1/4 cubic feet = 10-3/4 cubic yards. To find the quantity of cement, sand, and gravel, multiply the amounts for 1 cubic yard, indicated in line 7 of Table 1, by 10-3/4, and it will be found that 65 sacks of cement, 4.83 cubic yards of sand, and 9.56 cubic yards of gravel are necessary to build the wall. =Example 2.=--A pavement 27 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 6 inches thick has a 5-inch base mixed in the proportions of 1:3:5 and a 1-inch surface mixed in the proportions of 1:2. The volume in the base is 27 � 4 � 5/12 = 45 cubic feet = 1-2/3 cubic yards. The volume in the top is 27 � 4 � 1/12 = 9 cubic feet = 1/3 cubic yard. Multiplying the quantities in line 9 of Table 1 by 1-2/3 and those in line 2 by it is found that the base requires 7.74 sacks cement; 0.86 cubic yard sand; 1.43 cubic yards gravel; and the top requires 4.49 sacks cement; 0.33 cubic yard sand. =Example 3.=[1]--A tank 9 feet inside diameter has walls 6 inches thick and 4 feet high (above the floor). The floor is 6 inches thick, the concrete is to be 1:2:4. The volume in the floor is 10/2 � 10/2 � 22/7 � 1/2 = 39-2/7 Cubic feet. The area of the larger circle is 5 � 5 � 22/7 = 78-4/7 cubic feet. The area of the smaller circle is 4-1/2 � 4-1/2 � 22/7 = 63-4/7 cubic feet. The area of the wall, therefore, is 15 cubic feet and the volume is 15 � 4 = 60 cubic feet. The total volume in the structure is 99-2/7 cubic feet or 3-2/3 cubic yards. Multiplying the quantities in line 7 of Table 1 by 3-2/3, it is found that the following material is needed: 22.14 sacks of cement; 1.65 cubic yards of sand; 3.27 cubic yards of gravel. [1] A practical rule in finding the area of a circle is to multiply one-half the diameter (radius) by itself and the product by 22/7. In finding the volume in the wall of a circular structure, such as a silo or tank, the area of the circle formed by the inside circumference is deducted from the area of the circle formed by the outside circumference and the remainder is multiplied by the height. FORMS. Forms are required to hold the concrete in place until it has attained sufficient strength to sustain itself and the initial loads to which it may be subjected. Concrete is plastic and will assume the shape of the form, thus any imperfection or impression on the face of the forms will be reproduced. Wood is commonly used for forms, as it can be easily worked into different shapes, though various other materials sometimes are better adapted to special conditions. Cast iron, for instance, is suitable for casting small objects that are to be reproduced in quantities, such as concrete block or tile; plaster of Paris, glue, or moist sand are employed for casting ornaments or to produce a fine, smooth surface; sheet metal is suitable when the forms can be used repeatedly or for such circular structures as silos. When the sides of an excavation are not likely to cave in the earth may serve as a form. WOOD FORMS. Wood for forms must be of a kind that is easily worked and that will retain its shape when exposed to the weather. White pine is the best wood, but is seldom used because of its cost. Spruce, yellow pine, and fir are satisfactory woods for forms and are best, used partially green or unseasoned. The edges of boards should be surfaced, tongued and, grooved, or beveled in order to obtain a tight form, so that the soft mortar will not ooze out. A better surface* is secured if the boards are dressed on one side and are free of loose knots or other imperfections. As forms must be removed, they should be so planned that they can be taken down without destroying the lumber, especially if the boards are used for sheathing or again for forms. Therefore the nailing of the boards to the support should be only sufficient to keep them in place until the concrete has hardened. Greasing the surface next to the concrete with crude oil, soap solution, or linseed oil will prevent the concrete from adhering and facilitate removal. METAL FORMS. Metal forms can be used to advantage when the work involved is to be repeated many times. If it is known or if it is probable that the forms may have to be altered, the relative costs of wood and metal forms should be carefully determined. Metal forms of various types and designs may be purchased. Although the first cost may be high, yet their use may lower the total cost when the work is such as to warrant it. Circular forms may be built as shown in Figure 3. The sheathing is generally of wood 4 to 6 inches wide, or sheet metal, and, if of wood, is laid perpendicular to the battens. In forms of small diameter, sheet metal sheathing is necessary if a smooth surface is desired, as the 4-inch boards can not be made to conform to a true circle. The radius used for cutting the battens of the inner circle should be the thickness of the sheathing less than the inside radius of the structure and the same amount greater than the outer radius for the outside battens. REMOVAL OF FORMS. The period of time after which forms may be removed varies according to conditions. Rich and dry mixtures set quickly, and warm weather tends to hasten the setting of concrete. The character of the structural member and the loadings also must be considered. Thus, an unloaded wall 12 inches or more thick may be stripped of forms in from 1 to 3 days, while the forms of thinner walls should remain in place from 2 to 5 days. Slab forms and the sides of beam and girder forms may be removed in from 6 to 14 days if the span is not over 7 feet. The bottoms of beam and girder forms, even though of a span less than 7 feet, should remain in place and braced form 10 to 14 days and even longer. Experience is the best guide to the time of removal, but if there is any doubt ample time should be allowed, especially in cold weather. [Illustration: Fig. 3.--Suggestion for circular form.] BUILDING AND SETTING FORMS. Concrete, while plastic, exerts a great pressure on the confining walls, necessitating rigid tying and bracing of the forms to keep them from bulging out of alignment. The effect of the bulging of a form is corrected only at a considerable expense; hence it is advisable to pour the concrete to a depth of not more than 2-1/2 or 3 feet, allowing it to set or harden before pouring more. The form most used in concrete construction is that for a straight wall. The methods of building such a form apply in general to the forms for most structural work, though modifications may be necessary to meet particular conditions. [Illustration: Fig. 4.--Form for basement or cellar wall. The earth may be used as an outside form if it is sufficiently firm.] The straight wall form may be built continuous (Figs. 4 and 5), or in panels of a size convenient to handle, and from stock lengths of lumber (Fig. 6). Generally the face boards are placed horizontally and secured to studs or posts. The face boards may be 1 or 2 inches thick and from 6 to 10 inches wide, preference being given to the narrower widths, which are less liable to cup or warp. The thickness depends upon the spacing of the studs, the number of times the forms are to be used, and the depth of pouring. Ordinary sheathing, if the joints are made tight, is satisfactory for foundations of dwellings, etc., and the studs, if 2 by 4 inches, should be spaced 18 inches on centers. The studs for a long, high form had best be 4 by 4 inches or 2 by 6 inches, spaced from 2 to 3 feet center to center. The studs of the inside and outside forms must be tied together to prevent spreading; this is conveniently done with No. 10 wire, as shown in Figure 4, or with one-half or three-quarter inch bolts, which is the more expensive method. Bolts should be greased to facilitate removal. Temporary spacers of wood, 1 by 2 inches, of a length equal to the thickness of the wall, should be used to prevent drawing the forms together when the wire or bolt is tightened. They should be spaced at the ties, but need not be at every wire, and are knocked out and removed as the concreting progresses. [Illustration: Fig. 5.--Straight wall form for level ground.] The ties should be spaced on each stud about 2-1/2 feet vertically. If more than 3 feet of concrete is poured at one time the ties should be closer together, vertically, at the bottom of each pouring. The thickness of the wall does not affect the number of ties. On removing the forms the wires should be clipped close to the face of the concrete and punched back, unless the surface is to be stuccoed. If a pit hole is caused by punching back the wire it should be pointed up with mortar, which then should be rubbed to make it blend with the general surface. MIXING. PREPARATION OF PLANT. Before starting to mix, annoyance and money may be saved by planning the location of the mixing plant with regard to convenience in depositing the concrete in the forms and ease of access to the materials. Often the board can be located so that by moving it once or twice the bulk of the concrete may be shoveled directly into the forms. It is more economical to wheel material a distance of from 10 to 25 feet than to carry it in shovels. Eight feet is about as far as it is profitable to shovel. When material is to be wheeled, runways of planks should be provided, because more material can be handled in a given time, and the wear and tear on men and equipment is not so great. The planks used in the runways should be thick enough to sustain the weight passing over them and should be 10 to 12 inches wide to permit foot room. They should be anchored securely and made rigid, as springy or loose boards retard progress of the work. Smooth joints in the planking will prevent bumping and stumbling. [Illustration: Fig. 6.--Sectional forms.] NUMBER OF MEN. The number of men required is determined by the amount of concrete to be placed in a given time, the method of mixing, and the size of the batch; that is, the number of bags of cement mixed at one time. The amount of concrete one man can mix by hand in a day depends upon the experience of the man, the layout of the work, and other duties required of him. One man should average 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 cubic yards of concrete in eight hours, including mixing and wheeling not more than 50 feet. The gang for a one-bag batch may consist of 3 men, but a larger number make a more efficient force, for when the concrete is mixed by hand the men can take turns at the various tasks and will not tire so easily. The assigning of tasks so that each man's time fits into that of the others requires considerable study and is one of the chief factors making for loss or profit. MACHINE MIXING. Good concrete can be mixed by hand or machine. The quantity of concrete work in prospect is the factor that determines the more economical method. A small amount (say 100 to 200 cubic yards) does not warrant the purchase of a machine, but it is often feasible and economical to hire a machine from a neighbor or contractor if the quantity of concrete to be placed is more than 15 cubic yards. A mixer should be purchased only after careful consideration of the amount and character of the work to be done and the conditions affecting its use. The two types of mixers most used are the batch mixer, which mixes and dumps a definite quantity, and the continuous, which discharges a constant stream of concrete. The continuous type is not adapted to farm work unless the concrete can be handled as fast as it is mixed, thus permitting the machine to work continuously. [Illustration: Fig. 7.--Home made concrete mixer.] There are numerous types and various sizes of batch mixers. A one-bag batch machine is most suitable for general work, though there are smaller mixers that may prove handy. Some of the smallest sizes are operated by hand, but the medium and large sizes are power operated. Mixers can be had with or without the power plant attached and may be stationary or on wheels, which facilitate moving to different sites. Engines used for sawing wood, the larger ones used for pumping water, and tractors furnish sufficient power to operate an average mixer. Figure 7 shows a homemade mixer built of discarded farm implement parts and operated by the farm engine. Directions for operating a mixer are generally furnished with the machine. The tendency is to use too much water in mixing concrete in a machine. The consistency of the mixture should be as described under the heading "Consistency" on page 8. The mixing should be continued for at least a minute after the drum has been charged, but a better mixture is secured if two minutes are allowed. At the end of each day's work the machine should be thoroughly washed, and when not in use it should be well greased and covered. HAND MIXING. Hand mixing is the more economical on the farm unless a large amount of work is to be done at one time. Few tools need be purchased, and, as a rule, only farm help need be employed. The following tools will be needed in mixing and placing plain concrete: Two or more square-end short-handled shovels, 1 heavy garden rake, 1 sprinkling can or bucket (if a hose is not available), 1 52-gallon barrel, 2 wheelbarrows with metal trays, 1 sand screen (Fig. 8), 1 tamper (Fig. 9), 1 wood float or trowel (Fig. 10), measuring boxes (Fig. 11), mixing board (Fig. 12), 1 spader (Fig. 13). The number of shovels and wheelbarrows needed will depend upon the size of the batch, number of men mixing, and the layout of the work. Long-handled pointed shovels will be found more convenient at the sand and gravel piles. A bottomless box is necessary for convenient and accurate measurement of the sand and gravel. Where wheelbarrow measurement of materials is practiced, as in charging a mixer, the capacity of the wheelbarrow should be determined by use of a measuring box. The box may be made as illustrated in Figure 11, from boards 12 inches wide. The dimensions in Table 2 are of boxes for use in measuring quantities for mixtures of various proportions, assuming that one bag of cement is used in a batch. If two bags are used in a batch the boxes should be filled twice. [Illustration: Fig. 8.--Sand screen.] [Illustration: Fig. 9.--Tampers.] [Illustration: Fig. 10.--Wooden float.] [Illustration: Fig. 11.--Measuring box.] [Illustration: Fig. 12.--Mixing Board.] [Illustration: Fig. 13.--Spading tool.] Table 2.--_Inside dimensions of measuring boxes for various proportions._ [1-bag batch, box 12 inches deep.] Proportion. Box for sand. Box for gravel. ----------- --------------- ---------------- _Feet._ _Feet._ 1:1:2 1 by 1 1 by 2 1:1-1/2:3 1 by 1-1/2 1 by 3 1:2:4 1 by 2 2 by 2 1:2-1/2:5 1-1/4 by 2 2 by 2-1/2 1:3:5 1-1/2 by 2 2 by 2-1/2 1:3:6 1-1/2 by 2 2 by 3 A tight platform should be provided similar to that illustrated in Figure 12 upon which to mix the concrete. For mixing 1 or 2 bag batches a platform 9 by 10 feet will serve. DIRECTIONS FOR HAND MIXING. The mixing board should be located in convenient relation to the supply of materials and the work and should be level. The sand box is placed on the board, about 2 feet from one of the longer sides, and filled level with sand; the box is then lifted away and the sand spread in a 3 or 4 inch layer. The cement is spread as evenly as possible on' top of the sand. Two men with shovels, standing on opposite sides of the pile, turn the sand and cement in such a way that the materials axe thoroughly mixed. In turning the material it should not be simply dumped off the shovel, but should be shaken off the ends and sides, so that the two constituents will be mixed as they fall. The mass should be turned two or three times, or until it is of uniform color and there are no streaks of either sand or cement. A man with a hoe or rake may assist by raking the top over as the two men turn. When the sand-cement mixture is of a uniform color it should be spread out carefully in a layer and the gravel box placed on top. The box is filled with gravel and then removed, the gravel being spread over the sand-cement mixture. The mass is soaked with about one-half the quantity of water to be used, care being taken not to wash away any of the cement. The materials then should be turned over in much the same manner as was the sand-cement, except that instead of shaking them off the end of the shovel the whole load should be dumped and dragged back toward the mixer with the square end of the shovel. The wet gravel picks up the sand and cement as it rolls over when dragged back. The mixing should be continued until the mass is uniform, water being added to the dry spots during the mixing until the desired consistency is obtained. Experience counts considerably in mixing concrete with the least amount of labor; ordinarily three or four turnings are required to mix the materials thoroughly. After the final turning the concrete should be shoveled into a compact pile and then is ready for placing in the forms. PLACING. PLACING CONCRETE. The mixed concrete should be deposited in the forms within from 20 to 30 minutes from the time the water is added to the cement, as it begins to set or harden after this time. To disturb the concrete after the set has begun is risky, as it will lose some of its strength, the extent of the injury depending upon the seriousness of the disturbance. Concrete which has set before it can be placed in the forms should not be tempered or softened with water, but should be discarded. To prevent delay in placing, all forms should be examined before the mixing is begun to see that they are properly braced, that all chips or loose particles are removed, that the surface of concrete which has set has been properly roughened and wetted to assure a bond, as described on page 20, and that all reinforcement, bolts, inserts, etc., are properly located and secured. At the lunch' period, or at the end of a day's work, the mixing board and equipment should be thoroughly washed, for if this is not done many pounds of heavy concrete are needlessly carried around by the men and the addition of a pound in the weight of tools will lower the efficiency of the workers. Moreover, it will save time and wear and tear of equipment incident to cutting the surplus concrete away with a cold chisel. [Illustration: Fig. 14.--1592 Showing result of leaky forms and poor placing. The soft cement mortar ran out, leaving areas of honeycombed surface not necessarily harmful but unsightly.] In depositing concrete in the forms care should be taken that the materials do not separate. If the mixing is done close to the place of depositing, the concrete may be shoveled into the forms directly or through a chute. If it is necessary to lift or transport the concrete, buckets and wheelbarrows are convenient containers. The concrete should be deposited in horizontal layers, preferably not over 6 inches thick, and a spade or paddle should be worked up and down against the forms to push the coarse material away from the surface, as illustrated in Figure 13. The object of the spading is to eliminate impounded air that may form pockets in the mass and to insure a smoother and more impervious surface. In addition to being spaded, stiff concrete should be rammed until water flushes to the surface. Tapping the forms with a hammer is a very effective way of securing a smooth surface. Figure 14 shows the result of improper spading. Fresh concrete will riot bond readily to concrete that has hardened and a seam may be formed that will permit water to trickle through. When bonding fresh concrete to that which has been in place for a short time it is usually sufficient to roughen the hardened surface with a pick or by other means so as to expose the gravel or stone, and to clean off all loose particles. The hardened concrete should be soaked with water, the excess water removed, and the surface then given a coat of grout (a mixture of cement and water) of the consistency of cream just before the new concrete is deposited. When pouring of a wall is to be discontinued for some time, provision for the bonding of future work should be made. This may be done by placing short steel dowels in the concrete when it is poured, or a rebated joint or groove may be made, as shown in Figure 15. In bonding a new wall to old concrete, holes should be drilled for the dowels, which should be grouted in, and the old surface should be roughened, cleaned, and wetted; or a groove may be cut in the old wall to receive the new concrete. [Illustration: Fig. 15.--Method of forming horizontal rebate.] PLACING UNDER WATER. Concrete can be placed under still water if proper precautions are taken. It should never be placed, while soft, in running water unless a form or cofferdam is used, as the cement will be washed out. When concrete is to be placed under water a form of tube or chute, known as a tremie (Fig. 16), may be used advantageously. The tube should be of sheet metal, about 8 inches in diameter, with a hopper on top, and means should be provided for quickly raising and lowering it without jolts, so that the concrete will feed out at the bottom without breaking the seal. The lower end of the tube should rest on the bottom or on the concrete as it is built up and a continuous flow of concrete, mixed somewhat soft so that it will flow easily, should be maintained. Scum or laitance is likely to form on concrete when placed under water, and unless all of the concrete is! poured in one operation and brought to a little above the water surface, seams or planes of weakness will occur. CARE OF CONCRETE. After the concrete has been poured, care should be taken that it does not dry out too quickly, and in hot weather it must be protected from the sun. Exposed surfaces and objects made of dry concrete should be sprayed thoroughly with water twice or oftener each day for a week or 10 days. Sometimes surfaces are shielded with canvas, paper, boards, or layers of moist sand. [Illustration: Fig. 16.--Tremie for use in placing concrete under water.] PROTECTION FROM FREEZING WEATHER. CONCRETING IN FREEZING WEATHER. If suitable methods are used, good concrete work can be done in cold weather, but with more difficulty and at somewhat greater cost than when the weather is warm. Ordinarily it is best not to attempt to do concrete work during freezing weather. However, the extra cost at times may be warranted by urgent need of the structure or the fact that other farm work is not so pressing during the winter and the concrete work may be carried on without seriously interfering with regular farm operations. Concrete must be protected from alternate freezing and thawing until it has set. Cold retards the setting and hardening of concrete; therefore, even though the temperature is not at the freezing point, the concrete should be protected and special care taken not to subject it to loads. The forms should be kept in place until there is no doubt that the concrete has properly hardened. Hot water should be poured on the concrete to make sure that apparent hardness is real and not due to a frozen condition. Just before the concrete is placed all ice and frost should be removed from the forms and reinforcement, if used, by warming the surfaces with steam or by other means. Concrete that has been frozen once may, with proper care, attain its ultimate strength, but should it freeze a second time the chances of saving the work are very slight. Exposed surfaces are apt to scale or pit if the concrete is allowed to freeze before it is thoroughly hardened. Pleating the materials, protecting the green concrete, and the use of salt are precautions generally taken to prevent freezing. THE USE OF SALT. The use of salt is objectionable, as it forms a white efflorescence on exterior surfaces and is liable to corrode the steel in reinforced concrete work. The quantity of salt required varies with the temperature, but it should not exceed 10 per cent of the weight of the water used in mixing. A 10 per cent solution is eight-tenths (approximately 13 ounces) of a pound of salt per gallon of water and will prevent freezing at a temperature of 22° F. Lower temperatures would require a greater proportion of salt, which would impair the strength of the concrete, and hence is not practicable. A rule, frequently advocated, for varying the percentage of salt is to use 1-1/3 ounces per gallon of water for each degree Fahrenheit below freezing. Since it is impossible to foretell the exact drop in temperature, the exact quantity of salt can not be predetermined, so that provision should be made for several degrees lower than anticipated. The salt should be dissolved in the mixing water, and in order that the proportion be correct the amount of water required for each batch should be determined by trial and this quantity used throughout the work. THE USE OF HEAT. Perhaps the most satisfactory method of preventing freezing of concrete is to heat the materials and to inclose or cover the completed work for a few days or until most of the water has disappeared and sufficient strength has developed. In extreme weather protection may be needed for five or six days. When the weather is cold but not freezing, heating the materials will be sufficient. If a freeze is expected the concrete work should be protected by wood inclosures, paper, or canvas, over which, if the surface is horizontal, may be spread a 6 or 8 inch layer of straw. Manure should not be used to protect fresh concrete, since the acids in it are destructive and cause unsightly stains. Splits or other openings in coverings may admit cold, which may freeze parts of the work. As the temperature drops (to about 20° F.) it will be necessary to arrange the covering so that live steam can be turned in between it and the concrete or that heat may be supplied from stoves or salamanders. Mass work, except in very cold weather, will not require as careful protection as thin sections and, as a rule, the forms are sufficient if the exposed parts are covered. HEATING MATERIALS. The water can be heated sufficiently for use in concrete (approximately 150° F.) in kettles on stoves or by steam from a boiler. A metal smokestack placed horizontally with a fire in one end makes an efficient heater for the sand and gravel. The materials are piled over the stack, but not so high that their weight will crush the pipe. Small quantities of sand and gravel may be heated on top of metal plate with a fire under it. If a small boiler is available it may be economical to use steam for heating the sand and gravel. Steam is effective when forced from nozzles into the piles or circulated through perforated pipes placed under the material. Covering the piles with canvas or other material will retain much of the heat. CONTRACTION AND EXPANSION JOINTS. Concrete expands and contracts with changes in temperature, causing cracks to appear. Contraction cracks occur in thin sections exposed to wide variations in temperature and are common in sidewalks; therefore, large stretches of concrete should not be laid without breaks or spaces to allow for the changes in size. The spaces should be filled with tar or some similar material that will yield or give when the concrete expands. A joint like that shown in Figure 17 is frequently used for thick walls. A section of the wall is poured and before the next is poured the abutting end is covered with tar and paper, the thickness of the covering depending upon the length of the section and the exposure. Sidewalks and similar work, when not cast in alternate blocks, should have a one-fourth inch space left at intervals of 40 feet. The joint may be filled with tar paper or tar. Steel is used to take care of contraction in long or high walls and water-tight work. Important structures in which temperature reinforcement is necessary should be designed by one experienced in concrete design. [Illustration: Fig. 17.--Expansion joint showing rebate form removed and filler in place.] LINTELS. The subject of reinforced concrete is not within the province of this bulletin, but as openings of various widths are required in the walls of most farm structures, a general explanation is given of the reinforcement of lintels or that portion of concrete immediately above an opening, such as a floor or window. A lintel is a beam, and when a beam bends the lower part is stretched or pulled while the upper portion is compressed. Good concrete will stand great pressure but is not capable of resisting any great pulling or tensile stress. For this reason steel is used in the lower portion to take care of the tensile or pulling force. It will be found generally satisfactory, where no heavy or concentrated load occurs over an opening and the span is not more than 4 feet, to place two rods three-eighths of an inch in diameter in the bottom of the lintel, so that there will be 1 inch of concrete below them. Two diagonal rods should be placed at each top corner of a window or door, as shown in Figure 18. When the opening is between 4 and 8 feet the rods should be bent up as shown in Figure 19 and when between 8 and 12 feet, three one-half inch rods should be used, two of them being bent. Barbed wire, old fencing, and scrap or rusty iron is not suitable for reinforcement. Loose rust should be cleaned off the rods and they should be free of grease and oil. [Illustration: Fig. 18.--Reinforcement of openings less than 4 feet wide.] [Illustration: Fig. 19.--Reinforcement of openings more than 4 feet wide.] SURFACE FINISH. Joints and imperfections in the forms are reproduced on the concrete surfaces. Patches of honeycomb and rough places are left where the mortar has run out of the forms or where the concrete has not been properly placed. Such imperfections do not necessarily affect the strength of the concrete, but they do detract from the appearance (see Fig. 14). Too of ten the finishing of the concrete work in even the more important farm buildings is neglected. With little extra trouble exposed surfaces can be given a finish which will add to the attractiveness and hence the value of the completed work. Rubbing off the form marks and pointing up depressions or holes greatly improves the appearance of the work. The rubbing may be done with a wooden float or hard-burned brick, using a little sand and water as an abrasive and a 1:2 mortar for pointing up. The surface can be worked best if the forms are removed within 24 hours or before the concrete has set too hard. After the concrete has hardened it may be necessary to use a carborundum block for rubbing. A pleasing finish can be secured by scrubbing the surface with a stiff fiber or wire brush, using plenty of water to wash off the loosened particles. The work must be done while the surface is workable for if the concrete is too green or soft the aggregate will break out and if too hard the work can not be done effectively. Artistic effects can be secured by picking or tooling the surface with a bush hammer, toothed chisel, or pick. For such treatment the concrete should be two or three weeks old to prevent breaking out the aggregate. Other finishes may be obtained by etching with acid to expose selected colored aggregates and by the application of stucco. The limitations of the bulletin do not permit of a discussion of these more elaborate treatments. CONCRETE EXPOSED TO FIRE. Concrete is practically fireproof in that it can not be consumed by fire, but unless properly made and of the right materials it will disintegrate, at least on the surface. To resist fire concrete should be mixed fairly rich, say, 1:1-1/2:3, or 1:2:4 and special care should be taken to grade the sand and gravel to secure a dense mixture. The aggregates should be selected with a view to their fire-resisting properties. The sand should be siliceous and the larger aggregate should not disintegrate when heated; hence, marble, granite, limestone, materials containing quartz, and some gravels are unsuitable. Cinders are specially valuable, due to their non-conductivity, but can not be used where strength is required. Trap rock will resist destruction by heat and produce a strong concrete. Blast furnace slag is very good for this purpose. Fireplaces and chimneys of dwellings[2] may be constructed of ordinary concrete but the back, jambs, and inner hearth, which are directly exposed to the heat of the fire, should be made of specially prepared concrete as described above or should be lined with firebrick, although concrete made with broken hard-burned brick or terra cotta has been used successfully. If suitable large-sized aggregate is not available a mixture of one part cement and three parts sand may be used. [2] See Farmers' Bulletin No. 1230, Chimneys and Fireplaces, U. S. Department of Agriculture. WATER-TIGHT CONCRETE. Practical water-tightness in concrete may be secured by using a fairly rich mixture properly proportioned. Foreign ingredients, membrane and surface coatings, or other means need not be used, except where poor workmanship is likely or where considerable damage and inconvenience may result in case of leakage. Under such circumstances the membrane treatment used in addition to a properly proportioned concrete, while the most expensive method of waterproofing, probably will give the most reliable results. This treatment consists of layers of burlap or tar paper cemented to the surface and together with tar or asphalt. Where the membrane is subject to injury it is sometimes protected by a coating of cement mortar or brick backing. First-class workmanship and special attention to details are required to secure water-tightness. The essential requisite is that the voids be filled. A lean mixture may be made more impervious by using hydrated lime which tends to fill the voids and makes the concrete flow easily. A little more cement in the mixture would serve the same purpose. The lime should not be in excess of 10 per cent of the weight of the cement and under no circumstances should unslaked lime be used. The materials for water-tight concrete must be well graded, so as to obtain a maximum density; that is, enough sand must be used to fill the spaces between the gravel or stone and enough cement to fill the spaces between the grains of sand. A 1:2:4 concrete will prove practically impermeable in ordinary construction, but if a head or pressure of water is to be resisted a 1:2:3 or richer mixture may be necessary. The consistency is very important. A sluggishly flowing consistency is best, for if the concrete is too wet the mortar may flow away from the stone, leaving leaky places and, if too dry, the mass may prove porous. The proportions and consistency must be accurately maintained for each batch and the concrete must be exceptionally well mixed. It is necessary to exercise great care in the placing of the concrete. Where practicable, the structure or object should be poured in one operation to avoid leaky joints, but when this is not possible precautions should be taken to secure a tight joint between concrete of different ages. The surface of concrete which has set must be cleaned of dirt and scum down to the true concrete. This surface then should be well whetted and painted immediately with a creamy mixture of cement and water before placing the new concrete. A good plan, when discontinuing work on structures intended to hold liquids, is to embed a 6 or 8 inch strip of tin or thin sheet metal to half its width in the concrete so that the other half will project into the new concrete. A wall thick enough to resist the stresses put upon it will generally resist percolation of water, but 6 inches may be considered as a minimum. Contraction and expansion must be controlled to avoid the occurrence of leaks. To guard against cracks due to unequal settlement or other causes, most concrete designed for water-tightness should be reinforced. In some mass work, special contraction joints, as described on page 23 may be necessary. Rules for the use of reinforcement and contraction joints can not be given, as the requirements in each case vary with the conditions to be met. * * * * * ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE October 21, 1929 _Secretary of Agriculture_ Arthur M. Hyde. _Assistant Secretary_ R. W. Dunlap. _Director of Scientific Work_ A. F. Woods. _Director of Regulatory Work_ Walter G. Campbell. _Director of Extension Work_ C. W. Warburton. _Director of Personnel and Business W. W. Stockberger. Administration_ _Director of Information_ M. S. Eisenhower. _Solicitor_ R. W. Williams. _Weather Bureau_ Charles F. Marvin, _Chief_. _Bureau of Animal Industry_ John R. Mohler, _Chief_. _Bureau of Dairy Industry_ O. E. Reed, _Chief_. _Bureau of Plant Industry_ William A. Taylor, _Chief_. _Forest Service_ R. Y. Stuart, _Chief_. _Bureau of Chemistry and Soils_ H. G. Knight, _Chief_. _Bureau of Entomology_ C. L. Marlatt, _Chief_. _Bureau of Biological Survey_ Paul G. Redington, _Chief_. _Bureau of Public Roads_ Thomas H. MacDonald, _Chief_. _Bureau of Agricultural Economics_ Nils A. Olsen, _Chief_. _Bureau of Home Economics_ Louise Stanley, _Chief_. _Plant Quarantine and Control C. L. Marlatt, _Chief_. Administration_ _Grain Futures Administration_ J. W. T. Duvel, _Chief_. _Food, Drug, and Insecticide Walter G. Campbell, _Director of Administration_ Regulatory Work, in Charge_. _Office of Experiment Stations_ E. W. Allen, _Chief_. _Office of Cooperative Extension Work_ C. B. Smith, _Chief_. _Library_ Claribel R. Barnett, _Librarian_. This bulletin is a contribution from _Bureau of Public Roads_ Thomas H. MacDonald, _Chief_. _Division of Agricultural Engineering_ S. H. McCrory, _in Charge_. U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1929 * * * * * Transcriber Notes All illustrations were moved so as to not split paragraphs. 
17137	----	AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS INSTITUTED 1852 TRANSACTIONS Paper No. 1169 SOME MOOTED QUESTIONS IN REINFORCED CONCRETE DESIGN.[A] BY EDWARD GODFREY, M. AM. SOC. C. E. WITH DISCUSSION BY MESSRS. JOSEPH WRIGHT, S. BENT RUSSELL, J.R. WORCESTER, L.J. MENSCH, WALTER W. CLIFFORD, J.C. MEEM, GEORGE H. MYERS, EDWIN THACHER, C.A.P. TURNER, PAUL CHAPMAN, E.P. GOODRICH, ALBIN H. BEYER, JOHN C. OSTRUP, HARRY F. PORTER, JOHN STEPHEN SEWELL, SANFORD E. THOMPSON, AND EDWARD GODFREY. Not many years ago physicians had certain rules and practices by which they were guided as to when and where to bleed a patient in order to relieve or cure him. What of those rules and practices to-day? If they were logical, why have they been abandoned? It is the purpose of this paper to show that reinforced concrete engineers have certain rules and practices which are no more logical than those governing the blood-letting of former days. If the writer fails in this, by reason of the more weighty arguments on the other side of the questions he propounds, he will at least have brought out good reasons which will stand the test of logic for the rules and practices which he proposes to condemn, and which, at the present time, are quite lacking in the voluminous literature on this comparatively new subject. Destructive criticism has recently been decried in an editorial in an engineering journal. Some kinds of destructive criticism are of the highest benefit; when it succeeds in destroying error, it is reconstructive. No reform was ever accomplished without it, and no reformer ever existed who was not a destructive critic. If showing up errors and faults is destructive criticism, we cannot have too much of it; in fact, we cannot advance without it. If engineering practice is to be purged of its inconsistencies and absurdities, it will never be done by dwelling on its excellencies. Reinforced concrete engineering has fairly leaped into prominence and apparently into full growth, but it still wears some of its swaddling-bands. Some of the garments which it borrowed from sister forms of construction in its short infancy still cling to it, and, while these were, perhaps, the best makeshifts under the circumstances, they fit badly and should be discarded. It is some of these misfits and absurdities which the writer would like to bring prominently before the Engineering Profession. [Illustration: FIG. 1.] The first point to which attention is called, is illustrated in Fig. 1. It concerns sharp bends in reinforcing rods in concrete. Fig. 1 shows a reinforced concrete design, one held out, in nearly all books on the subject, as a model. The reinforcing rod is bent up at a sharp angle, and then may or may not be bent again and run parallel with the top of the beam. At the bend is a condition which resembles that of a hog-chain or truss-rod around a queen-post. The reinforcing rod is the hog-chain or the truss-rod. Where is the queen-post? Suppose this rod has a section of 1 sq. in. and an inclination of 60° with the horizontal, and that its unit stress is 16,000 lb. per sq. in. The forces, _a_ and _b_, are then 16,000 lb. The force, _c_, must be also 16000 lb. What is to take this force, _c_, of 16,000 lb.? There is nothing but concrete. At 500 lb. per sq. in., this force would require an area of 32 sq. in. Will some advocate of this type of design please state where this area can be found? It must, of necessity, be in contact with the rod, and, for structural reasons, because of the lack of stiffness in the rod, it would have to be close to the point of bend. If analogy to the queen-post fails so completely, because of the almost complete absence of the post, why should not this borrowed garment be discarded? If this same rod be given a gentle curve of a radius twenty or thirty times the diameter of the rod, the side unit pressure will be from one-twentieth to one-thirtieth of the unit stress on the steel. This being the case, and being a simple principle of mechanics which ought to be thoroughly understood, it is astounding that engineers should perpetrate the gross error of making a sharp bend in a reinforcing rod under stress. The second point to which attention is called may also be illustrated by Fig. 1. The rod marked 3 is also like the truss-rod of a queen-post truss in appearance, because it ends over the support and has the same shape. But the analogy ends with appearance, for the function of a truss-rod in a queen-post truss is not performed by such a reinforcing rod in concrete, for other reasons than the absence of a post. The truss-rod receives its stress by a suitable connection at the end of the rod and over the support of the beam. The reinforcing rod, in this standard beam, ends abruptly at the very point where it is due to receive an important element of strength, an element which would add enormously to the strength and safety of many a beam, if it could be introduced. Of course a reinforcing rod in a concrete beam receives its stress by increments imparted by the grip of the concrete; but these increments can only be imparted where the tendency of the concrete is to stretch. This tendency is greatest near the bottom of the beam, and when the rod is bent up to the top of the beam, it is taken out of the region where the concrete has the greatest tendency to stretch. The function of this rod, as reinforcement of the bottom flange of the beam, is interfered with by bending it up in this manner, as the beam is left without bottom-flange reinforcement, as far as that rod is concerned, from the point of bend to the support. It is true that there is a shear or a diagonal tension in the beam, and the diagonal portion of the rod is apparently in a position to take this tension. This is just such a force as the truss-rod in a queen-post truss must take. Is this reinforcing rod equipped to perform this office? The beam is apt to fail in the line, _A B_. In fact, it is apt to crack from shrinkage on this or almost any other line, and to leave the strength dependent on the reinforcing steel. Suppose such a crack should occur. The entire strength of the beam would be dependent on the grip of the short end of Rod 3 to the right of the line, _A B_. The grip of this short piece of rod is so small and precarious, considering the important duty it has to perform, that it is astounding that designers, having any care for the permanence of their structures, should consider for an instant such features of design, much less incorporate them in a building in which life and property depend on them. The third point to which attention is called, is the feature of design just mentioned in connection with the bent-up rod. It concerns the anchorage of rods by the embedment of a few inches of their length in concrete. This most flagrant violation of common sense has its most conspicuous example in large engineering works, where of all places better judgment should prevail. Many retaining walls have been built, and described in engineering journals, in papers before engineering societies of the highest order, and in books enjoying the greatest reputation, which have, as an essential feature, a great number of rods which cannot possibly develop their strength, and might as well be of much smaller dimensions. These rods are the vertical and horizontal rods in the counterfort of the retaining wall shown at _a_, in Fig. 2. This retaining wall consists of a front curtain wall and a horizontal slab joined at intervals by ribs or counterforts. The manifest and only function of the rib or counterfort is to tie together the curtain wall and the horizontal slab. That it is or should be of concrete is because the steel rods which it contains, need protection. It is clear that failure of the retaining wall could occur by rupture through the Section _A B_, or through _B C_. It is also clear that, apart from the cracking of the concrete of the rib, the only thing which would produce this rupture is the pulling out of the short ends of these reinforcing rods. Writers treat the triangle, _A B C_, as a beam, but there is absolutely no analogy between this triangle and a beam. Designers seem to think that these rods take the place of so-called shear rods in a beam, and that the inclined rods are equivalent to the rods in a tension flange of a beam. It is hard to understand by what process of reasoning such results can be attained. Any clear analysis leading to these conclusions would certainly be a valuable contribution to the literature on the subject. It is scarcely possible, however, that such analysis will be brought forward, for it is the apparent policy of the reinforced concrete analyst to jump into the middle of his proposition without the encumbrance of a premise. There is positively no evading the fact that this wall could fail, as stated, by rupture along either _A B_ or _B C_. It can be stated just as positively that a set of rods running from the front wall to the horizontal slab, and anchored into each in such a manner as would be adopted were these slabs suspended on the rods, is the only rational and the only efficient design possible. This design is illustrated at _b_ in Fig. 2. [Illustration: FIG. 2.] The fourth point concerns shear in steel rods embedded in concrete. For decades, specifications for steel bridges have gravely given a unit shear to be allowed on bridge pins, and every bridge engineer knows or ought to know that, if a bridge pin is properly proportioned for bending and bearing, there is no possibility of its being weak from shear. The centers of bearings cannot be brought close enough together to reduce the size of the pin to where its shear need be considered, because of the width required for bearing on the parts. Concrete is about one-thirtieth as strong as steel in bearing. There is, therefore, somewhat less than one-thirtieth of a reason for specifying any shear on steel rods embedded in concrete. The gravity of the situation is not so much the serious manner in which this unit of shear in steel is written in specifications and building codes for reinforced concrete work (it does not mean anything in specifications for steelwork, because it is ignored), but it is apparent when designers soberly use these absurd units, and proportion shear rods accordingly. Many designers actually proportion shear rods for shear, shear in the steel at units of 10,000 or 12,000 lb. per sq. in.; and the blame for this dangerous practice can be laid directly to the literature on reinforced concrete. Shear rods are given as standard features in the design of reinforced concrete beams. In the Joint Report of the Committee of the various engineering societies, a method for proportioning shear members is given. The stress, or shear per shear member, is the longitudinal shear which would occur in the space from member to member. No hint is given as to whether these bars are in shear or tension; in fact, either would be absurd and impossible without greatly overstressing some other part. This is just a sample of the state of the literature on this important subject. Shear bars will be taken up more fully in subsequent paragraphs. The fifth point concerns vertical stirrups in a beam. These stirrups are conspicuous features in the designs of reinforcing concrete beams. Explanations of how they act are conspicuous in the literature on reinforced concrete by its total absence. By stirrups are meant the so-called shear rods strung along a reinforcing rod. They are usually U-shaped and looped around the rod. It is a common practice to count these stirrups in the shear, taking the horizontal shear in a beam. In a plate girder, the rivets connecting the flange to the web take the horizontal shear or the increment to the flange stress. Compare two 3/4-in. rivets tightly driven into holes in a steel angle, with a loose vertical rod, 3/4 in. in diameter, looped around a reinforcing rod in a concrete beam, and a correct comparison of methods of design in steel and reinforced concrete, as they are commonly practiced, is obtained. These stirrups can take but little hold on the reinforcing rods--and this must be through the medium of the concrete--and they can take but little shear. Some writers, however, hold the opinion that the stirrups are in tension and not in shear, and some are bold enough to compare them with the vertical tension members of a Howe truss. Imagine a Howe truss with the vertical tension members looped around the bottom chord and run up to the top chord without any connection, or hooked over the top chord; then compare such a truss with one in which the end of the rod is upset and receives a nut and large washer bearing solidly against the chord. This gives a comparison of methods of design in wood and reinforced concrete, as they are commonly practiced. Anchorage or grip in the concrete is all that can be counted on, in any event, to take up the tension of these stirrups, but it requires an embedment of from 30 to 50 diameters of a rod to develop its full strength. Take 30 to 50 diameters from the floating end of these shear members, and, in some cases, nothing or less than nothing will be left. In any case the point at which the shear member, or stirrup, is good for its full value, is far short of the centroid of compression of the beam, where it should be; in most cases it will be nearer the bottom of the beam. In a Howe truss, the vertical tension members having their end connections near the bottom chord, would be equivalent to these shear members. The sixth point concerns the division of stress into shear members. Briefly stated, the common method is to assume each shear member as taking the horizontal shear occurring in the space from member to member. As already stated, this is absurd. If stirrups could take shear, this method would give the shear per stirrup, but even advocates of this method acknowledge that they can not. To apply the common analogy of a truss: each shear member would represent a tension web member in the truss, and each would have to take all the shear occurring in a section through it. If, for example, shear members were spaced half the depth of a beam apart, each would take half the shear by the common method. If shear members take vertical shear, or if they take tension, what is between the two members to take the other half of the shear? There is nothing in the beam but concrete and the tension rod between the two shear members. If the concrete can take the shear, why use steel members? It is not conceivable that an engineer should seriously consider a tension rod in a reinforced concrete beam as carrying the shear from stirrup to stirrup. The logical deduction from the proposition that shear rods take tension is that the tension rods must take shear, and that they must take the full shear of the beam, and not only a part of it. For these shear rods are looped around or attached to the tension rods, and since tension in the shear rods would logically be imparted through the medium of this attachment, there is no escaping the conclusion that a large vertical force (the shear of the beam) must pass through the tension rod. If the shear member really relieves the concrete of the shear, it must take it all. If, as would be allowable, the shear rods take but a part of the shear, leaving the concrete to take the remainder, that carried by the rods should not be divided again, as is recommended by the common method. Bulletin No. 29 of the University of Illinois Experiment Station shows by numerous experiments, and reiterates again and again, that shear rods do not act until the beam has cracked and partly failed. This being the case, a shear rod is an illogical element of design. Any element of a structure, which cannot act until failure has started, is not a proper element of design. In a steel structure a bent plate which would straighten out under a small stress and then resist final rupture, would be a menace to the rigidity and stability of the structure. This is exactly analogous to shear rods which cannot act until failure has begun. When the man who tears down by criticism fails to point out the way to build up, he is a destructive critic. If, under the circumstances, designing with shear rods had the virtue of being the best thing to do with the steel and concrete disposed in a beam, as far as experience and logic in their present state could decide, nothing would be gained by simply criticising this method of design. But logic and tests have shown a far simpler, more effective, and more economical means of disposing of the steel in a reinforced concrete beam. In shallow beams there is little need of provision for taking shear by any other means than the concrete itself. The writer has seen a reinforced slab support a very heavy load by simple friction, for the slab was cracked close to the supports. In slabs, shear is seldom provided for in the steel reinforcement. It is only when beams begin to have a depth approximating one-tenth of the span that the shear in the concrete becomes excessive and provision is necessary in the steel reinforcement. Years ago, the writer recommended that, in such beams, some of the rods be curved up toward the ends of the span and anchored over the support. Such reinforcement completely relieves the concrete of all shearing stress, for the stress in the rod will have a vertical component equal to the shear. The concrete will rest in the rod as a saddle, and the rod will be like the cable of a suspension span. The concrete could be in separate blocks with vertical joints, and still the load would be carried safely. By end anchorage is not meant an inch or two of embedment in concrete, for an iron vise would not hold a rod for its full value by such means. Neither does it mean a hook on the end of the rod. A threaded end with a bearing washer, and a nut and a lock-nut to hold the washer in place, is about the only effective means, and it is simple and cheap. Nothing is as good for this purpose as plain round rods, for no other shape affords the same simple and effective means of end connection. In a line of beams, end to end, the rods may be extended into the next beam, and there act to take the top-flange tension, while at the same time finding anchorage for the principal beam stress. The simplicity of this design is shown still further by the absence of a large number of little pieces in a beam box, as these must be held in their proper places, and as they interfere with the pouring of the concrete. It is surprising that this simple and unpatented method of design has not met with more favor and has scarcely been used, even in tests. Some time ago the writer was asked, by the head of an engineering department of a college, for some ideas for the students to work up for theses, and suggested that they test beams of this sort. He was met by the astounding and fatuous reply that such would not be reinforced concrete beams. They would certainly be concrete beams, and just as certainly be reinforced. Bulletin 29 of the University of Illinois Experiment Station contains a record of tests of reinforced concrete beams of this sort. They failed by the crushing of the concrete or by failure in the steel rods, and nearly all the cracks were in the middle third of the beams, whereas beams rich in shear rods cracked principally in the end thirds, that is, in the neighborhood of the shear rods. The former failures are ideal, and are easier to provide against. A crack in a beam near the middle of the span is of little consequence, whereas one near the support is a menace to safety. The seventh point of common practice to which attention is called, is the manner in which bending moments in so-called continuous beams are juggled to reduce them to what the designer would like to have them. This has come to be almost a matter of taste, and is done with as much precision or reason as geologists guess at the age of a fossil in millions of years. If a line of continuous beams be loaded uniformly, the maximum moments are negative and are over the supports. Who ever heard of a line of beams in which the reinforcement over the supports was double that at mid-spans? The end support of such a line of beams cannot be said to be fixed, but is simply supported, hence the end beam would have a negative bending moment over next to the last support equal to that of a simple span. Who ever heard of a beam being reinforced for this? The common practice is to make a reduction in the bending moment, at the middle of the span, to about that of a line of continuous beams, regardless of the fact that they may not be continuous or even contiguous, and in spite of the fact that the loading of only one gives quite different results, and may give results approaching those of a simple beam. If the beams be designed as simple beams--taking the clear distance between supports as the span and not the centers of bearings or the centers of supports--and if a reasonable top reinforcement be used over these supports to prevent cracks, every requirement of good engineering is met. Under extreme conditions such construction might be heavily stressed in the steel over the supports. It might even be overstressed in this steel, but what could happen? Not failure, for the beams are capable of carrying their load individually, and even if the rods over the supports were severed--a thing impossible because they cannot stretch out sufficiently--the beams would stand. Continuous beam calculations have no place whatever in designing stringers of a steel bridge, though the end connections will often take a very large moment, and, if calculated as continuous, will be found to be strained to a very much larger moment. Who ever heard of a failure because of continuous beam action in the stringers of a bridge? Why cannot reinforced concrete engineering be placed on the same sound footing as structural steel engineering? The eighth point concerns the spacing of rods in a reinforced concrete beam. It is common to see rods bunched in the bottom of such a beam with no regard whatever for the ability of the concrete to grip the steel, or to carry the horizontal shear incident to their stress, to the upper part of the beam. As an illustration of the logic and analysis applied in discussing the subject of reinforced concrete, one well-known authority, on the premise that the unit of adhesion to rod and of shear are equal, derives a rule for the spacing of rods. His reasoning is so false, and his rule is so far from being correct, that two-thirds would have to be added to the width of beam in order to make it correct. An error of 66% may seem trifling to some minds, where reinforced concrete is considered, but errors of one-tenth this amount in steel design would be cause for serious concern. It is reasoning of the most elementary kind, which shows that if shear and adhesion are equal, the width of a reinforced concrete beam should be equal to the sum of the peripheries of all reinforcing rods gripped by the concrete. The width of the beam is the measure of the shearing area above the rods, taking the horizontal shear to the top of the beam, and the peripheries of the rods are the measure of the gripping or adhesion area. Analysis which examines a beam to determine whether or not there is sufficient concrete to grip the steel and to carry the shear, is about at the vanishing point in nearly all books on the subject. Such misleading analysis as that just cited is worse than nothing. The ninth point concerns the T-beam. Excessively elaborate formulas are worked out for the T-beam, and haphazard guesses are made as to how much of the floor slab may be considered in the compression flange. If a fraction of this mental energy were directed toward a logical analysis of the shear and gripping value of the stem of the T-beam, it would be found that, when the stem is given its proper width, little, if any, of the floor slab will have to be counted in the compression flange, for the width of concrete which will grip the rods properly will take the compression incident to their stress. The tenth point concerns elaborate theories and formulas for beams and slabs. Formulas are commonly given with 25 or 30 constants and variables to be estimated and guessed at, and are based on assumptions which are inaccurate and untrue. One of these assumptions is that the concrete is initially unstressed. This is quite out of reason, for the shrinkage of the concrete on hardening puts stress in both concrete and steel. One of the coefficients of the formulas is that of the elasticity of the concrete. No more variable property of concrete is known than its coefficient of elasticity, which may vary from 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 or 6,000,000; it varies with the intensity of stress, with the kind of aggregate used, with the amount of water used in mixing, and with the atmospheric condition during setting. The unknown coefficient of elasticity of concrete and the non-existent condition of no initial stress, vitiate entirely formulas supported by these two props. Here again destructive criticism would be vicious if these mathematical gymnasts were giving the best or only solution which present knowledge could produce, or if the critic did not point out a substitute. The substitute is so simple of application, in such agreement with experiments, and so logical in its derivation, that it is surprising that it has not been generally adopted. The neutral axis of reinforced concrete beams under safe loads is near the middle of the depth of the beams. If, in all cases, it be taken at the middle of the depth of the concrete beam, and if variation of intensity of stress in the concrete be taken as uniform from this neutral axis up, the formula for the resisting moment of a reinforced concrete beam becomes extremely simple and no more complex than that for a rectangular wooden beam. The eleventh point concerns complex formulas for chimneys. It is a simple matter to find the tensile stress in that part of a plain concrete chimney between two radii on the windward side. If in this space there is inserted a rod which is capable of taking that tension at a proper unit, the safety of the chimney is assured, as far as that tensile stress is concerned. Why should frightfully complex formulas be proposed, which bring in the unknowable modulus of elasticity of concrete and can only be solved by stages or dependence on the calculations of some one else? The twelfth point concerns deflection calculations. As is well known, deflection does not play much of a part in the design of beams. Sometimes, however, the passing requirement of a certain floor construction is the amount of deflection under a given load. Professor Gaetano Lanza has given some data on recorded deflections of reinforced concrete beams.[B] He has also worked out the theoretical deflections on various assumptions. An attempt to reconcile the observed deflections with one of several methods of calculating stresses led him to the conclusion that: "The observations made thus far are not sufficient to furnish the means for determining the actual distribution of the stresses, and hence for the deduction of reliable formulæ for the computation of the direct stresses, shearing stresses, diagonal stresses, deflections, position of the neutral axis, etc., under a given load." Professor Lanza might have gone further and said that the observations made thus far are sufficient to show the hopelessness of deriving a formula that will predict accurately the deflection of a reinforced concrete beam. The wide variation shown by two beam tests cited by him, in which the beams were identical, is, in itself, proof of this. Taking the data of these tests, and working out the modulus of elasticity from the recorded deflections, as though the beams were of plain concrete, values are found for this modulus which are not out of agreement with the value of that variable modulus as determined by other means. Therefore, if the beams be considered as plain concrete beams, and an average value be assumed for the modulus or coefficient of elasticity, a deflection may be found by a simple calculation which is an average of that which may be expected. Here again, simple theory is better than complex, because of the ease with which it may be applied, and because it gives results which are just as reliable. The thirteenth point concerns the elastic theory as applied to a reinforced concrete arch. This theory treats a reinforced concrete arch as a spring. In order to justify its use, the arch or spring is considered as having fixed ends. The results obtained by the intricate methods of the elastic theory and the simple method of the equilibrium polygon, are too nearly identical to justify the former when the arch is taken as hinged at the ends. The assumption of fixed ends in an arch is a most extravagant one, because it means that the abutments must be rigid, that is, capable of taking bending moments. Rigidity in an abutment is only effected by a large increase in bulk, whereas strength in an arch ring is greatly augmented by the addition of a few inches to its thickness. By the elastic theory, the arch ring does not appear to need as much strength as by the other method, but additional stability is needed in the abutments in order to take the bending moments. This latter feature is not dwelt on by the elastic theorists. In the ordinary arch, the criterion by which the size of abutment is gauged, is the location of the line of pressure. It is difficult and expensive to obtain depth enough in the base of the abutment to keep this line within the middle third, when only the thrust of the arch is considered. If, in addition to the thrust, there is a bending moment which, for many conditions of loading, further displaces the line of pressure toward the critical edge, the difficulty and expense are increased. It cannot be gainsaid that a few cubic yards of concrete added to the ring of an arch will go much further toward strengthening the arch than the same amount of concrete added to the two abutments. In reinforced concrete there are ample grounds for the contention that the carrying out of a nice theory, based on nice assumptions and the exact determination of ideal stresses, is of far less importance than the building of a structure which is, in every way, capable of performing its function. There are more than ample grounds for the contention that the ideal stresses worked out for a reinforced concrete structure are far from realization in this far from ideal material. Apart from the objection that the elastic theory, instead of showing economy by cutting down the thickness of the arch ring, would show the very opposite if fully carried out, there are objections of greater weight, objections which strike at the very foundation of the theory as applied to reinforced concrete. In the elastic theory, as in the intricate beam theory commonly used, there is the assumption of an initial unstressed condition of the materials. This is not true of a beam and is still further from the truth in the case of an arch. Besides shrinkage of the concrete, which always produces unknown initial stresses, there is a still more potent cause of initial stress, namely, the settlement of the arch when the forms are removed. If the initial stresses are unknown, ideal determinations of stresses can have little meaning. The elastic theory stands or falls according as one is able or unable to calculate accurately the deflection of a reinforced concrete beam; and it is an impossibility to calculate this deflection even approximately. The tests cited by Professor Lanza show the utter disagreement in the matter of deflections. Of those tested, two beams which were identical, showed results almost 100% apart. A theory grounded on such a shifting foundation does not deserve serious consideration. Professor Lanza's conclusions, quoted under the twelfth point, have special meaning and force when applied to a reinforced concrete arch; the actual distribution of the stresses cannot possibly be determined, and complex cloaks of arithmetic cannot cover this fact. The elastic theory, far from being a reliable formula, is false and misleading in the extreme. The fourteenth point refers to temperature calculations in a reinforced concrete arch. These calculations have no meaning whatever. To give the grounds for this assertion would be to reiterate much of what has been said under the subject of the elastic arch. If the unstressed shape of an arch cannot be determined because of the unknown effect of shrinkage and settlement, it is a waste of time to work out a slightly different unstressed shape due to temperature variation, and it is a further waste of time to work out the supposed stresses resulting from deflecting that arch back to its actual shape. If no other method of finding the approximate stresses in an arch existed, the elastic theory might be classed as the best available; but this is not the case. There is a method which is both simple and reliable. Accuracy is not claimed for it, and hence it is in accord with the more or less uncertain materials dealt with. Complete safety, however, is assured, for it treats the arch as a series of blocks, and the cementing of these blocks into one mass cannot weaken the arch. Reinforcement can be proportioned in the same manner as for chimneys, by finding the tension exerted to pull these blocks apart and then providing steel to take that tension. The fifteenth point concerns steel in compression in reinforced concrete columns or beams. It is common practice--and it is recommended in the most pretentious works on the subject--to include in the strength of a concrete column slender longitudinal rods embedded in the concrete. To quote from one of these works: "The compressive resistance of a hooped member exceeds the sum of the following three elements: (1) The compressive resistance of the concrete without reinforcement. (2) The compressive resistance of the longitudinal rods stressed to their elastic limit. (3) The compressive resistance which would have been produced by the imaginary longitudinals at the elastic limit of the hooping metal, the volume of the imaginary longitudinals being taken as 2.4 times that of the hooping metal." This does not stand the test, either of theory or practice; in fact, it is far from being true. Its departure from the truth is great enough and of serious enough moment to explain some of the worst accidents in the history of reinforced concrete. It is a nice theoretical conception that the steel and the concrete act together to take the compression, and that each is accommodating enough to take just as much of the load as will stress it to just the right unit. Here again, initial stress plays an important part. The shrinkage of the concrete tends to put the rods in compression, the load adds more compression on the slender rods and they buckle, because of the lack of any adequate stiffening, long before the theorists' ultimate load is reached. There is no theoretical or practical consideration which would bring in the strength of the hoops after the strength of the concrete between them has been counted. All the compression of a column must, of necessity, go through the disk of concrete between the two hoops (and the longitudinal steel). No additional strength in the hoops can affect the strength of this disk, with a given spacing of the hoops. It is true that shorter disks will have more strength, but this is a matter of the spacing of the hoops and not of their sectional area, as the above quotation would make it appear. Besides being false theoretically, this method of investing phantom columns with real strength is wofully lacking in practical foundation. Even the assumption of reinforcing value to the longitudinal steel rods is not at all borne out in tests. Designers add enormously to the calculated strength of concrete columns when they insert some longitudinal rods. It appears to be the rule that real columns are weakened by the very means which these designers invest with reinforcing properties. Whether or not it is the rule, the mere fact that many tests have shown these so-called reinforced concrete columns to be weaker than similar plain concrete columns is amply sufficient to condemn the practice of assuming strength which may not exist. Of all parts of a building, the columns are the most vital. The failure of one column will, in all probability, carry with it many others stronger than itself, whereas a weak and failing slab or beam does not put an extra load and shock on the neighboring parts of a structure. In Bulletin No. 10 of the University of Illinois Experiment Station,[C] a plain concrete column, 9 by 9 in. by 12 ft., stood an ultimate crushing load of 2,004 lb. per sq. in. Column 2, identical in size, and having four 5/8-in. rods embedded in the concrete, stood 1,557 lb. per sq. in. So much for longitudinal rods without hoops. This is not an isolated case, but appears to be the rule; and yet, in reading the literature on the subject, one would be led to believe that longitudinal steel rods in a plain concrete column add greatly to the strength of the column. A paper, by Mr. M.O. Withey, before the American Society for Testing Materials, in 1909, gave the results of some tests on concrete-steel and plain concrete columns. (The term, concrete-steel, is used because this particular combination is not "reinforced" concrete.) One group of columns, namely, _W1_ to _W3_, 10-1/2 in. in diameter, 102 in. long, and circular in shape, stood an average ultimate load of 2,600 lb. per sq. in. These columns were of plain concrete. Another group, namely, _E1_ to _E3_, were octagonal in shape, with a short diameter (12 in.), their length being 120 in. These columns contained nine longitudinal rods, 5/8 in. in diameter, and 1/4-in. steel rings every foot. They stood an ultimate load averaging 2,438 lb. per sq. in. This is less than the column with no steel and with practically the same ratio of slenderness. In some tests on columns made by the Department of Buildings, of Minneapolis, Minn.[D], Test _A_ was a 9 by 9-in. column, 9 ft. 6 in. long, with ten longitudinal, round rods, 1/2 in. in diameter, and 1-1/2-in. by 3/16-in. circular bands (having two 1/2-in. rivets in the splice), spaced 4 in. apart, the circles being 7 in. in diameter. It carried an ultimate load of 130,000 lb., which is much less than half "the compressive resistance of a hooped member," worked out according to the authoritative quotation before given. Another similar column stood a little more than half that "compressive resistance." Five of the seventeen tests on the concrete-steel columns, made at Minneapolis, stood less than the plain concrete columns. So much for the longitudinal rods, and for hoops which are not close enough to stiffen the rods; and yet, in reading the literature on the subject, any one would be led to believe that longitudinal rods and hoops add enormously to the strength of a concrete column. The sixteenth indictment against common practice is in reference to flat slabs supported on four sides. Grashof's formula for flat plates has no application to reinforced concrete slabs, because it is derived for a material strong in all directions and equally stressed. The strength of concrete in tension is almost nil, at least, it should be so considered. Poisson's ratio, so prominent in Grashof's formula, has no meaning whatever in steel reinforcement for a slab, because each rod must take tension only; and instead of a material equally stressed in all directions, there are generally sets of independent rods in only two directions. In a solution of the problem given by a high English authority, the slab is assumed to have a bending moment of equal intensity along its diagonal. It is quite absurd to assume an intensity of bending clear into the corner of a slab, and on the very support equal to that at its center. A method published by the writer some years ago has not been challenged. By this method strips are taken across the slab and the moment in them is found, considering the limitations of the several strips in deflection imposed by those running at right angles therewith. This method shows (as tests demonstrate) that when the slab is oblong, reinforcement in the long direction rapidly diminishes in usefulness. When the ratio is 1:1-1/2, reinforcement in the long direction is needless, since that in the short direction is required to take its full amount. In this way French and other regulations give false results, and fail to work out. If the writer is wrong in any or all of the foregoing points, it should be easy to disprove his assertions. It would be better to do this than to ridicule or ignore them, and it would even be better than to issue reports, signed by authorities, which commend the practices herein condemned. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote A: Presented at the meeting of March 16th, 1910.] [Footnote B: "Stresses in Reinforced Concrete Beams," _Journal_, Am. Soc. Mech. Engrs., Mid-October, 1909.] [Footnote C: Page 14, column 8.] [Footnote D: _Engineering News_, December 3d, 1908.] DISCUSSION JOSEPH WRIGHT, M. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--If, as is expected, Mr. Godfrey's paper serves to attract attention to the glaring inconsistencies commonly practiced in reinforced concrete designs, and particularly to the careless detailing of such structures, he will have accomplished a valuable purpose, and will deserve the gratitude of the Profession. No engineer would expect a steel bridge to stand up if the detailing were left to the judgment or convenience of the mechanics of the shop, yet in many reinforced concrete designs but little more thought is given to the connections and continuity of the steel than if it were an unimportant element of the structure. Such examples, as illustrated by the retaining wall in Fig. 2, are common, the reinforcing bars of the counterfort being simply hooked by a 4-in. U-bend around those of the floor and wall slabs, and penetrating the latter only from 8 to 12 in. The writer can cite an example which is still worse--that of a T-wall, 16 ft. high, in which the vertical reinforcement of the wall slab consisted of 3/4-in. bars, spaced 6 in. apart. The wall slab was 8 in. thick at the top and only 10 in. at the bottom, yet the 3/4-in. vertical bars penetrated the floor slab only 8 in., and were simply hooked around its lower horizontal bars by 4-in. U-bends. Amazing as it may appear, this structure was designed by an engineer who is well versed in the theories of reinforced concrete design. These are only two examples from a long list which might be cited to illustrate the carelessness often exhibited by engineers in detailing reinforced concrete structures. In reinforced concrete work the detailer has often felt the need of some simple and efficient means of attaching one bar to another, but, in its absence, it is inexcusable that he should resort to such makeshifts as are commonly used. A simple U-hook on the end of a bar will develop only a small part of the strength of the bar, and, of course, should not be relied on where the depth of penetration is inadequate; and, because of the necessity of efficient anchorage of the reinforcing bars where one member of a structure unites with another, it is believed that in some instances economy might be subserved by the use of shop shapes and shop connections in steel, instead of the ordinary reinforcing bars. Such cases are comparatively few, however, for the material in common use is readily adapted to the design, in the ordinary engineering structure, and only requires that its limitations be observed, and that the designer be as conscientious and consistent in detailing as though he were designing in steel. This paper deserves attention, and it is hoped that each point therein will receive full and free discussion, but its main purport is a plea for simplicity, consistency, and conservatism in design, with which the writer is heartily in accord. S. BENT RUSSELL, M. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--The author has given expression in a forcible way to feelings possessed no doubt by many careful designers in the field in question. The paper will serve a useful purpose in making somewhat clearer the limitations of reinforced concrete, and may tend to bring about a more economical use of reinforcing material. It is safe to say that in steel bridges, as they were designed in the beginning, weakness was to be found in the connections and details, rather than in the principal members. In the modern advanced practice of bridge design the details will be found to have some excess of strength over the principal members. It is probable that the design of reinforced concrete structures will take the same general course, and that progress will be made toward safety in minor details and economy in principal bars. Many of the author's points appear to be well taken, especially the first, the third, and the eighth. In regard to shear bars, if it is assumed that vertical or inclined bars add materially to the strength of short deep beams, it can only be explained by viewing the beam as a framed structure or truss in which the compression members are of concrete and the tension members of steel. It is evident that, as generally built, the truss will be found to be weak in the connections, more particularly, in some cases, in the connections between the tension and compression members, as mentioned in the author's first point. It appears to the writer that this fault may be aggravated in the case of beams with top reinforcement for compression; this is scarcely touched on by the author. In such a case the top and bottom chords are of steel, with a weakly connected web system which, in practice, is usually composed of stirrup rods looped around the principal bars and held in position by the concrete which they are supposed to strengthen. While on this phase of the subject, it may be proper to call attention to the fact that the Progress Report of the Special Committee on Concrete and Reinforced Concrete[E] may well be criticised for its scant attention to the case of beams reinforced on the compression side. No limitations are specified for the guidance of the designer, but approval is given to loading the steel with its full share of top-chord stress.[F] In certain systems of reinforcement now in use, such as the Kahn and Cummings systems, the need for connections between the web system and the chord member is met to some degree, as is generally known. On the other hand, however, these systems do not provide for such intensity of pressure on the concrete at the points of connection as must occur by the author's demonstration in his first point. The author's criticisms on some other points would also apply to such systems, and it is not necessary to state that one weak detail will limit the strength of the truss. The author has only condemnation for the use of longitudinal rods in concrete columns (Point 15). It would seem that if the longitudinal bars are to carry a part of the load they must be supported laterally by the concrete, and, as before, in the beam, it may be likened to a framed structure in which the web system is formed of concrete alone, or of a framework of poorly connected members, and the concrete and steel must give mutual support in a way not easy to analyze. It is scarcely surprising that the strength of such a structure is sometimes less than that shown by concrete alone. In the Minneapolis tests, quoted by the author, there are certain points which should be noted, in fairness to columns reinforced longitudinally. Only four columns thus reinforced failed below the strength shown by concrete alone, and these were from 52 to 63 days old only, while the plain concrete was 98 days old. There was nothing to hold the rods in place in these four columns except the concrete and the circular hoops surrounding them. On the other hand, all the columns in which the hooping was hooked around the individual rods showed materially greater strength than the plain concrete, although perhaps one should be excepted, as it was 158 days old and showed a strength of only 2,250 lb. per sq. in., or 12% more than the plain concrete.[G] In considering a column reinforced with longitudinal rods and hoops, it is proper to remark that the concrete not confined by the steel ought not to be counted as aiding the latter in any way, and that, consequently, the bond of the outside bars is greatly weakened. In view of these considerations, it may be found economical to give the steel reinforcement of columns some stiffness of its own by sufficiently connected lateral bracing. The writer would suggest, further, that in beams where rods are used in compression a system of web members sufficiently connected should be provided, so that the strength of the combined structure would be determinate. To sum up briefly, columns and short deep beams, especially when the latter are doubly reinforced, should be designed as framed structures, and web members should be provided with stronger connections than have been customary. J.R. WORCESTER, M. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--This paper is of value in calling attention to many of the bad practices to be found in reinforced concrete work, and also in that it gives an opportunity for discussing certain features of design, about which engineers do not agree. A free discussion of these features will tend to unify methods. Several of the author's indictments, however, hit at practices which were discarded long ago by most designers, and are not recommended by any good authorities; the implication that they are in general use is unwarranted. The first criticism, that of bending rods at a sharp angle, may be said to be of this nature. Drawings may be made without indicating the curve, but in practice metal is seldom bent to a sharp angle. It is undoubtedly true that in every instance a gradual curve is preferable. The author's second point, that a suitable anchorage is not provided for bent-up rods at the ends of a beam, may also be said to be a practice which is not recommended or used in the best designs. The third point, in reference to the counterforts of retaining walls, is certainly aimed at a very reprehensible practice which should not be countenanced by any engineer. The fourth, fifth, and sixth items bring out the fact that undoubtedly there has been some confusion in the minds of designers and authors on the subject of shear in the steel. The author is wholly justified in criticising the use of the shearing stress in the steel ever being brought into play in reinforced concrete. Referring to the report of the Special Committee on Concrete and Reinforced Concrete, on this point, it seems as if it might have made the intention of the Committee somewhat clearer had the word, tensile, been inserted in connection with the stress in the shear reinforcing rods. In considering a beam of reinforced concrete in which the shearing stresses are really diagonal, there is compression in one case and tension in another; and, assuming that the metal must be inserted to resist the tensile portion of this stress, it is not essential that it should necessarily be wholly parallel to the tensile stress. Vertical tensile members can prevent the cracking of the beam by diagonal tension, just as in a Howe truss all the tensile stresses due to shear are taken in a vertical direction, while the compressive stresses are carried in the diagonal direction by the wooden struts. The author seems to overlook the fact, however, that the reinforced concrete beam differs from the Howe truss in that the concrete forms a multiple system of diagonal compression members. It is not necessary that a stirrup at one point should carry all the vertical tension, as this vertical tension is distributed by the concrete. There is no doubt about the necessity of providing a suitable anchorage for the vertical stirrups, and such is definitely required in the recommendations of the Special Committee. The cracks which the author refers to as being necessary before the reinforcing material is brought into action, are just as likely to occur in the case of the bent-up rods with anchors at the end, advocated by him. While his method may be a safe one, there is also no question that a suitable arrangement of vertical reinforcement may be all that is necessary to make substantial construction. With reference to the seventh point, namely, methods of calculating moments, it might be said that it is not generally considered good practice to reduce the positive moments at the center of a span to the amount allowable in a beam fully fixed at the end, and if provision is made for a negative moment over supports sufficient to develop the stresses involved in complete continuity, there is usually a considerable margin of safety, from the fact of the lack of possible fixedness of the beams at the supports. The criticism is evidently aimed at practice not to be recommended. As to the eighth point, the necessary width of a beam in order to transfer, by horizontal shear, the stress delivered to the concrete from the rods, it might be well worth while for the author to take into consideration the fact that while the bonding stress is developed to its full extent near the ends of the beam, it very frequently happens that only a portion of the total number of rods are left at the bottom, the others having been bent upward. It may be that the width of a beam would not be sufficient to carry the maximum bonding stress on the total number of rods near its center, and yet it may have ample shearing strength on the horizontal planes. The customary method of determining the width of the beams so that the maximum horizontal shearing stress will not be excessive, seems to be a more rational method than that suggested by Mr. Godfrey. Referring to the tenth and fourteenth points, it would be interesting to know whether the author proportions his steel to take the remaining tension without regard to the elongation possible at the point where it is located, considering the neutral axis of the section under the combined stress. Take, for instance, a chimney: If the section is first considered to be homogeneous material which will carry tension and compression equally well, and the neutral axis is found under the combined stresses, the extreme tensile fiber stress on the concrete will generally be a matter of 100 or 200 lb. Evidently, if steel is inserted to replace the concrete in tension, the corresponding stress in the steel cannot be more than from 1,500 to 3,000 lb. per sq. in. If sufficient steel is provided to keep the unit stress down to the proper figure, there can be little criticism of the method, but if it is worked to, say, 16,000 lb. per sq. in., it is evident that the result will be a different position for the neutral axis, invalidating the calculation and resulting in a greater stress in compression on the concrete. L.J. MENSCH, M. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--Much of the poor practice in reinforced concrete design to which Mr. Godfrey calls attention is due, in the writer's opinion, to inexperience on the part of the designer. It is true, however, that men of high standing, who derided reinforced concrete only a few years ago, now pose as reinforced concrete experts, and probably the author has the mistakes of these men in mind. The questions which he propounds were settled long ago by a great many tests, made in various countries, by reliable authorities, although the theoretical side is not as easily answered; but it must be borne in mind that the stresses involved are mostly secondary, and, even in steel construction, these are difficult of solution. The stresses in the web of a deep steel girder are not known, and the web is strengthened by a liberal number of stiffening angles, which no expert can figure out to a nicety. The ultimate strength of built-up steel columns is not known, frequently not even within 30%; still less is known of the strength of columns consisting of thin steel casings, or of the types used in the Quebec Bridge. It seems to be impossible to solve the problem theoretically for the simplest case, but had the designer of that bridge known of the tests made by Hodgkinson more than 40 years ago, that accident probably would not have happened. Practice is always ahead of theory, and the writer claims that, with the great number of thoroughly reliable tests made in the last 20 years, the man who is really informed on this subject will not see any reason for questioning the points brought out by Mr. Godfrey. The author is right in condemning sharp bends in reinforcing rods. Experienced men would not think of using them, if only for the reason that such sharp bends are very expensive, and that there is great likelihood of breaking the rods, or at least weakening them. Such sharp bends invite cracks. Neither is there any question in regard to the advantage of continuing the bent-up rods over the supports. The author is manifestly wrong in stating that the reinforcing rods can only receive their increments of stress when the concrete is in tension. Generally, the contrary happens. In the ordinary adhesion test, the block of concrete is held by the jaws of the machine and the rod is pulled out; the concrete is clearly in compression. The underside of continuous beams is in compression near the supports, yet no one will say that steel rods cannot take any stress there. It is quite surprising to learn that there are engineers who still doubt the advisability of using bent-up bars in reinforced concrete beams. Disregarding the very thorough tests made during the last 18 years in Europe, attention is called to the valuable tests on thirty beams made by J.J. Harding, M. Am. Soc. C. E., for the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad.[H] All the beams were reinforced with about 3/4% of steel. Those with only straight rods, whether they were plain or patented bars, gave an average shearing strength of 150 lb. per sq. in. Those which had one-third of the bars bent up gave an average shearing strength of 200 lb. per sq. in., and those which had nearly one-half of the rods bent up gave an average shearing strength of 225 lb. per sq. in. Where the bent bars were continued over the supports, higher ultimate values were obtained than where some of the rods were stopped off near the supports; but in every case bent-up bars showed a greater carrying capacity than straight rods. The writer knows also of a number of tests with rods fastened to anchor-plates at the end, but the tests showed that they had only a slight increase of strength over straight rods, and certainly made a poorer showing than bent-up bars. The use of such threaded bars would increase materially the cost of construction, as well as the time of erection. The writer confesses that he never saw or heard of such poor practices as mentioned in the author's third point. On the other hand, the proposed design of counterforts in retaining walls would not only be very expensive and difficult to install, but would also be a decided step backward in mechanics. This proposition recalls the trusses used before the introduction of the Fink truss, in which the load from the upper chord was transmitted by separate members directly to the abutments, the inventor probably going on the principle that the shortest way is the best. There are in the United States many hundreds of rectangular water tanks. Are these held by any such devices? And as they are not thus held, and inasmuch as there is no doubt that they must carry the stress when filled with water, it is clear that, as long as the rods from the sides are strong enough to carry the tension and are bent with a liberal radius into the front wall and extended far enough to form a good anchorage, the connection will not be broken. The same applies to retaining walls. It would take up too much time to prove that the counterfort acts really as a beam, although the forces acting on it are not as easily found as those in a common beam. The writer does not quite understand the author's reference to shear rods. Possibly he means the longitudinal reinforcement, which it seems is sometimes calculated to carry 10,000 lb. per sq. in. in shear. The writer never heard of such a practice. In regard to stirrups, Mr. Godfrey seems to be in doubt. They certainly do not act as the rivets of a plate girder, nor as the vertical rods of a Howe truss. They are best compared with the dowel pins and bolts of a compound wooden beam. The writer has seen tests made on compound concrete beams separated by copper plates and connected only by stirrups, and the strength of the combination was nearly the same as that of beams made in one piece. Stirrups do not add much to the strength of the beams where bent bars are used, but the majority of tests show a great increase of strength where only straight reinforcing bars are used. Stirrups are safeguards against poor concrete and poor workmanship, and form a good connection where concreting is interrupted through inclemency of weather or other causes. They absolutely prevent shrinkage cracks between the stem and the flange of T-beams, and the separation of the stem and slab in case of serious fires. For the latter reason, the writer condemns the use of simple U-bars, and arranges all his stirrups so that they extend from 6 to 12 in. into the slabs. Engineers are warned not to follow the author's advice with regard to the omission of stirrups, but to use plenty of them in their designs, or sooner or later they will thoroughly repent it. In regard to bending moments in continuous beams, the writer wishes to call attention to the fact that at least 99% of all reinforced structures are calculated with a reduction of 25% of the bending moment in the center, which requires only 20% of the ordinary bending moment of a freely supported beam at the supports. There may be some engineers who calculate a reduction of 33%; there are still some ultra-confident men, of little experience, who compute a reduction of 50%; but, inasmuch as most designers calculate with a reduction of only 25%, too great a factor of safety does not result, nor have any failures been observed on that account. In the case of slabs which are uniformly loaded by earth or water pressure, the bending moments are regularly taken as (_w_ _l^{2}_)/24 in the center and (_w_ _l^{2}_)/12 at the supports. The writer never observed any failure of continuous beams over the supports, although he has often noticed failures in the supporting columns directly under the beams, where these columns are light in comparison with the beams. Failure of slabs over the supports is common, and therefore the writer always places extra rods over the supports near the top surface. The width of the beams which Mr. Godfrey derives from his simple rule, that is, the width equals the sum of the peripheries of the reinforcing rods, is not upheld by theory or practice. In the first place, this width would depend on the kind of rods used. If a beam is reinforced by three 7/8-in. round bars, the width, according to his formula, would be 8.2 in. If the beam is reinforced by six 5/8-in. bars which have the same sectional area as the three 7/8-in. bars, then the width should be 12 in., which is ridiculous and does not correspond with tests, which would show rather a better behavior for the six bars than for the three larger bars in a beam of the same width. It is surprising to learn that there are engineers who still advocate such a width of the stem of T-beams that the favorable influence of the slab may be dispensed with, although there were many who did this 10 or 12 years ago. It certainly can be laid down as an axiom that the man who uses complicated formulas has never had much opportunity to design or build in reinforced concrete, as the design alone might be more expensive than the difference in cost between concrete and structural steel work. The author attacks the application of the elastic theory to reinforced concrete arches. He evidently has not made very many designs in which he used the elastic theory, or he would have found that the abutments need be only from three to four times thicker than the crown of the arch (and, therefore, their moments of inertia from 27 to 64 times greater), when the deformation of the abutments becomes negligible in the elastic equations. Certainly, the elastic theory gives a better guess in regard to the location of the line of pressure than any guess made without its use. The elastic theory was fully proved for arches by the remarkable tests, made in 1897 by the Austrian Society of Engineers and Architects, on full-sized arches of 70-ft. span, and the observed deflections and lateral deformations agreed exactly with the figured deformation. Tests on full-sized arches also showed that the deformations caused by temperature changes agree with the elastic theory, but are not as great for the whole mass of the arch as is commonly assumed. The elastic theory enables one to calculate arches much more quickly than any graphical or guess method yet proposed. Hooped columns are a patented construction which no one has the right to use without license or instructions from M. Considère, who clearly states that his formulas are correct only for rich concrete and for proper percentages of helical and longitudinal reinforcement, which latter must have a small spacing, in order to prevent the deformation of the core between the hoops. With these limitations his formulas are correct. Mr. Godfrey brings up some erratic column tests, and seems to have no confidence in reinforced concrete columns. The majority of column tests, however, show an increase of strength by longitudinal reinforcement. In good concrete the longitudinal reinforcement may not be very effective or very economical, but it safeguards the strength in poorly made concrete, and is absolutely necessary on account of the bending stresses set up in such columns, due to the monolithic character of reinforced concrete work. Mr. Godfrey does not seem to be familiar with the tests made by good authorities on square slabs of reinforced concrete and of cast iron, which latter material is also deficient in tensile strength. These tests prove quite conclusively that the maximum bending moment per linear foot may be calculated by the formulas, (_w_ _l^{2}_)/32 or (_w_ _l^{2}_)/20, according to the degree of fixture of the slabs at the four sides. Inasmuch as fixed ends are rarely obtained in practice, the formula, (_w_ _l^{2}_)/24, is generally adopted, and the writer cannot see any reason to confuse the subject by the introduction of a new method of calculation. WALTER W. CLIFFORD, JUN. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--Some of Mr. Godfrey's criticisms of reinforced concrete practice do not seem to be well taken, and the writer begs to call attention to a few points which seem to be weak. In Fig. 1, the author objects to the use of diagonal bars for the reason that, if the diagonal reinforcement is stressed to the allowable limit, these bars bring the bearing on the concrete, at the point where the diagonal joins the longitudinal reinforcement, above a safe value. The concrete at the point of juncture must give, to some extent, and this would distribute the bearing over a considerable length of rod. In some forms of patented reinforcement an additional safeguard is furnished by making the diagonals of flat straps. The stress in the rods at this point, moreover, is not generally the maximum allowable stress, for considerable is taken out of the rod by adhesion between the point of maximum stress and that of juncture. Mr. Godfrey wishes to remedy this by replacing the diagonals by rods curved to a radius of from twenty to thirty times their diameter. In common cases this radius will be about equal to the depth of the beam. Let this be assumed to be true. It cannot be assumed that these rods take any appreciable vertical shear until their slope is 30° from the horizontal, for before this the tension in the rod would be more than twice the shear which causes it. Therefore, these curved rods, assuming them to be of sufficient size to take, as a vertical component, the shear on any vertical plane between the point where it slopes 30° and its point of maximum slope, would need to be spaced at, approximately, one-half the depth of the beam. Straight rods of equivalent strength, at 45° with the axis of the beam, at this same spacing (which would be ample), would be 10% less in length. Mr. Godfrey states: "Of course a reinforcing rod in a concrete beam receives its stress by increments imparted by the grip of the concrete; but these increments can only be imparted where the tendency of the concrete is to stretch." He then overlooks the fact that at the end of a beam, such as he has shown, the maximum tension is diagonal, and at the neutral axis, not at the bottom; and the rod is in the best position to resist failure on the plane, _AB_, if its end is sufficiently well anchored. That this rod should be anchored is, as he states, undoubtedly so, but his implied objection to a bent end, as opposed to a nut, seems to the writer to be unfounded. In some recent tests, on rods bent at right angles, at a point 5 diameters distant from the end, and with a concrete backing, stress was developed equal to the bond stress on a straight rod embedded for a length of about 30 diameters, and approximately equal to the elastic limit of the rod, which, for reinforcing purposes, is its ultimate stress. Concerning the vertical stirrups to which Mr. Godfrey refers, there is no doubt that they strengthen beams against failure by diagonal tension or, as more commonly known, shear failures. That they are not effective in the beam as built is plain, for, if one considers a vertical plane between the stirrups, the concrete must resist the shear on this plane, unless dependence is placed on that in the longitudinal reinforcement. This, the author states, is often done, but the practice is unknown to the writer, who does not consider it of any value; certainly the stirrups cannot aid. Suppose, however, that the diagonal tension is above the ultimate stress for the concrete, failure of the concrete will then occur on planes perpendicular to the line of maximum tension, approximately 45° at the end of the beam. If the stirrups are spaced close enough, however, and are of sufficient strength so that these planes of failure all cut enough steel to take as tension the vertical shear on the plane, then these cracks will be very minute and will be distributed, as is the case in the center of the lower part of the beam. These stirrups will then take as tension the vertical shear on any plane, and hold the beam together, so that the friction on these planes will keep up the strength of the concrete in horizontal shear. The concrete at the end of a simple beam is better able to take horizontal shear than vertical, because the compression on a horizontal plane is greater than that on a vertical plane. This idea concerning the action of stirrups falls under the ban of Mr. Godfrey's statement, that any member which "cannot act until failure has started, is not a proper element of design," but this is not necessarily true. For example, Mr. Godfrey says "the steel in the tension side of the beam should be considered as taking all the tension." This is undoubtedly true, but it cannot take place until the concrete has failed in tension at this point. If used, vertical tension members should be considered as taking all the vertical shear, and, as Mr. Godfrey states, they should certainly have their ends anchored so as to develop the strength for which they have been calculated. The writer considers diagonal reinforcement to be the best for shear, and it should be used, especially in all cases of "unit" reinforcement; but, in some cases, stirrups can and do answer in the manner suggested; and, for reasons of practical construction, are sometimes best with "loose rod" reinforcement. J.C. MEEM, M. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--The writer believes that there are some very interesting points in the author's somewhat iconoclastic paper which are worthy of careful study, and, if it be shown that he is right in most of, or even in any of, his assumptions, a further expression of approval is due to him. Few engineers have the time to show fully, by a process of _reductio ad absurdum_, that all the author's points are, or are not, well considered or well founded, but the writer desires to say that he has read this paper carefully, and believes that its fundamental principles are well grounded. Further, he believes that intricate mathematical formulas have no place in practice. This is particularly true where these elaborate mathematical calculations are founded on assumptions which are never found in practice or experiment, and which, even in theory, are extremely doubtful, and certainly are not possible within those limits of safety wherein the engineer is compelled to work. The writer disagrees with the author in one essential point, however, and that is in the wholesale indictment of special reinforcement, such as stirrups, shear rods, etc. In the ordinary way in which these rods are used, they have no practical value, and their theoretical value is found only when the structure is stressed beyond its safe limits; nevertheless, occasions may arise when they have a definite practical value, if properly designed and placed, and, therefore, they should not be discriminated against absolutely. Quoting the author, that "destructive criticism is of no value unless it offers something in its place," and in connection with the author's tenth point, the writer offers the following formula which he has always used in conjunction with the design of reinforced concrete slabs and beams. It is based on the formula for rectangular wooden beams, and assumes that the beam is designed on the principle that concrete in tension is as strong as that in compression, with the understanding that sufficient steel shall be placed on the tension side to make this true, thus fixing the neutral axis, as the author suggests, in the middle of the depth, that is, _M_ = (1/6)_b d_^{2} _S_, _M_, of course, being the bending moment, and _b_ and _d_, the breadth and depth, in inches. _S_ is usually taken at from 400 to 600 lb., according to the conditions. In order to obtain the steel necessary to give the proper tensile strength to correspond with the compression side, the compression and tension areas of the beam are equated, that is 1 2 _d_ ---- _b_ _d_ _S_ = _a_ × ( ----- - _x_ ) × _S_ , 12 2 II II where _a_ = the area of steel per linear foot, _x_{II}_ = the distance from the center of the steel to the outer fiber, and _S_{II}_ = the strength of the steel in tension. Then for a beam, 12 in. wide, 2 _d_ _d_ _S_ = _a_ _S_ ( ----- - _x_ ) , II 2 II or 2 _d_ _S_ _a_ = --------------------- . _d_ _S_ ( ----- - _x_ ) II 2 II Carrying this to its conclusion, we have, for example, in a beam 12 in. deep and 12 in. wide, _S_ = 500, _S_{II}_ = 15,000, _x_{II}_ = 2-1/2 in. _a_ = 1.37 sq. in. per ft. The writer has used this formula very extensively, in calculating new work and also in checking other designs built or to be built, and he believes its results are absolutely safe. There is the further fact to its credit, that its simplicity bars very largely the possibility of error from its use. He sees no reason to introduce further complications into such a formula, when actual tests will show results varying more widely than is shown by a comparison between this simple formula and many more complicated ones. GEORGE H. MYERS, JUN. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--This paper brings out a number of interesting points, but that which strikes the writer most forcibly is the tenth, in regard to elaborate theories and complicated formulas for beams and slabs. The author's stand for simplicity in this regard is well taken. A formula for the design of beams and slabs need not be long or complicated in any respect. It can easily be obtained from the well-known fact that the moment at any point divided by the distance between the center of compression and the center of tension at that point gives the tension (or compression) in the beam. The writer would place the neutral axis from 0.42 to 0.45 of the effective depth of the beam from the compression side rather than at the center, as Mr. Godfrey suggests. This higher position of the neutral axis is the one more generally shown by tests of beams. It gives the formula _M_ = 0.86 _d_ _As_ _f_, or _M_ = 0.85 _d_ _As_ _f_, which the writer believes is more accurate than _M_ = 5/6 _d_ _As_ _f_, or 0.83-1/3 _d_ _As_ _f_, which would result if the neutral axis were taken at the center of the beam. _d_ = depth of the beam from the compression side to the center of the steel; _As_ = the area of the steel; and _f_ = the allowable stress per square inch in the steel. The difference, however, is very slight, the results from the two formulas being proportional to the two factors, 83-1/3 and 85 or 86. This formula gives the area of steel required for the moment. The percentage of steel to be used can easily be obtained from the allowable stresses in the concrete and the steel, and the dimensions of the beam can be obtained in the simplest manner. This formula is used with great success by one of the largest firms manufacturing reinforcing materials and designing concrete structures. It is well-known to the Profession, and the reason for using any other method, involving the Greek alphabet and many assumptions, is unknown to the writer. The only thing to assume--if it can be called assuming when there are so many tests to locate it--is the position of the neutral axis. A slight difference in this assumption affects the resulting design very little, and is inappreciable, from a practical point of view. It can be safely said that the neutral axis is at, or a little above, the center of the beam. Further, it would seem that the criticism to the effect that the initial stress in the concrete is neglected is devoid of weight. As far as the designer is concerned, the initial stress is allowed for. The values for the stresses used in design are obtained from tests on blocks of concrete which have gone through the process of setting. Whatever initial stress exists in concrete due to this process of setting exists also in these blocks when they are tested. The value of the breaking load on concrete given by any outside measuring device used in these tests, is the value of that stress over and above this initial stress. It is this value with which we work. It would seem that, if the initial stress is neglected in arriving at a safe working load, it would be safe to neglect it in the formula for design. EDWIN THACHER, M. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--The writer will discuss this paper under the several "points" mentioned by the author. _First Point._--At the point where the first rod is bent up, the stress in this rod runs out. The other rods are sufficient to take the horizontal stress, and the bent-up portion provides only for the vertical and diagonal shearing stresses in the concrete. _Second Point._--The remarks on the first point are also applicable to the second one. Rod 3 provides for the shear. _Third Point._--In a beam, the shear rods run through the compression parts of the concrete and have sufficient anchorage. In a counterfort, the inclined rods are sufficient to take the overturning stress. The horizontal rods support the front wall and provide for shrinkage. The vertical rods also provide for shrinkage, and assist the diagonal rods against overturning. The anchorage is sufficient in all cases, and the proposed method is no more effective. _Fourth Point._--In bridge pins, bending and bearing usually govern, but, in case a wide bar pulled on a pin between the supports close to the bar, as happens in bolsters and post-caps of combination bridges and in other locations, shear would govern. Shear rods in concrete-steel beams are proportioned to take the vertical and diagonal shearing stresses. If proportioned for less stress per square inch than is used in the bottom bars, this cannot be considered dangerous practice. _Fifth Point._--Vertical stirrups are designed to act like the vertical rods in a Howe truss. Special literature is not required on the subject; it is known that the method used gives good results, and that is sufficient. _Sixth Point._--The common method is not "to assume each shear member as taking the horizontal shear occurring in the space from member to member," but to take all the shear from the center of the beam up to the bar in question. Cracks do not necessarily endanger the safety of a beam. Any device that will prevent the cracks from opening wide enough to destroy the beam, is logical. By numerous experiments, Mr. Thaddeus Hyatt found that nuts and washers at the ends of reinforcing bars were worse than useless, and added nothing to the strength of the beams. _Seventh Point._--Beams can be designed, supported at the ends, fully continuous, or continuous to a greater or less extent, as desired. The common practice is to design slabs to take a negative moment over the supports equal to one-half the positive moment at the center, or to bend up the alternate rods. This is simple and good practice, for no beam can fail as long as a method is provided by which to take care of all the stresses without overstraining any part. _Eighth Point._--Bars in the bottom of a reinforced concrete beam are often placed too close to one another. The rule of spacing the bars not less than three diameters apart, is believed to be good practice. _Ninth Point._--To disregard the theory of T-beams, and work by rule-of-thumb, can hardly be considered good engineering. _Tenth Point._--The author appears to consider theories for reinforced concrete beams and slabs as useless refinements, but as long as theory and experiment agree so wonderfully well, theories will undoubtedly continue to be used. _Eleventh Point._--Calculations for chimneys are somewhat complex, but are better and safer than rule-of-thumb methods. _Twelfth Point._--Deflection is not very important. _Thirteenth Point._--The conclusion of the Austrian Society of Engineers and Architects, after numerous experiments, was that the elastic theory of the arch is the only true theory. No arch designed by the elastic theory was ever known to fail, unless on account of insecure foundations, therefore engineers can continue to use it with confidence and safety. _Fourteenth Point._--Calculations for temperature stresses, as per theory, are undoubtedly correct for the variations in temperature assumed. Similar calculations can also be made for shrinkage stresses, if desired. This will give a much better idea of the stresses to be provided for, than no calculations at all. _Fifteenth Point._--Experiments show that slender longitudinal rods, poorly supported, and embedded in a concrete column, add little or nothing to its strength; but stiff steel angles, securely latticed together, and embedded in the concrete column, will greatly increase its strength, and this construction is considered the most desirable when the size of the column has to be reduced to a minimum. _Sixteenth Point._--The commonly accepted theory of slabs supported on four sides can be correctly applied to reinforced concrete slabs, as it is only a question of providing for certain moments in the slab. This theory shows that unless the slab is square, or nearly so, nothing is to be gained by such construction. C.A.P. TURNER, M. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--Mr. Godfrey has expressed his opinion on many questions in regard to concrete construction, but he has adduced no clean-cut statement of fact or tests, in support of his views, which will give them any weight whatever with the practical matter-of-fact builder. The usual rules of criticism place the burden of proof on the critic. Mr. Godfrey states that if his personal opinions are in error, it should be easy to prove them to be so, and seems to expect that the busy practical constructor will take sufficient interest in them to spend the time to write a treatise on the subject in order to place him right in the matter. The writer will confine his discussion to only a few points of the many on which he disagrees with Mr. Godfrey. First, regarding stirrups: These may be placed in the beam so as to be of little practical value. They were so placed in the majority of the tests made at the University of Illinois. Such stirrups differ widely in value from those used by Hennebique and other first-class constructors. Mr. Godfrey's idea is that the entire pull of the main reinforcing rod should be taken up apparently at the end. When one frequently sees slabs tested, in which the steel breaks at the center, with no end anchorage whatever for the rods, the soundness of Mr. Godfrey's position may be questioned. Again, concrete is a material which shows to the best advantage as a monolith, and, as such, the simple beam seems to be decidedly out of date to the experienced constructor. Mr. Godfrey appears to consider that the hooping and vertical reinforcement of columns is of little value. He, however, presents for consideration nothing but his opinion of the matter, which appears to be based on an almost total lack of familiarity with such construction. The writer will state a few facts regarding work which he has executed. Among such work have been columns in a number of buildings, with an 18-in. core, and carrying more than 500 tons; also columns in one building, which carry something like 1100 tons on a 27-in. core. In each case there is about 1-1/2 in. of concrete outside the core for a protective coating. The working stress on the core, if it takes the load, is approximately equal to the ultimate strength of the concrete in cubes, to say nothing of the strength of cylinders fifteen times their diameter in height. These values have been used with entire confidence after testing full-sized columns designed with the proper proportions of vertical steel and hooping, and are regarded by the writer as having at least double the factor of safety used in ordinary designs of structural steel. An advantage which the designer in concrete has over his fellow-engineer in the structural steel line, lies in the fact that, with a given type of reinforcement, his members are similar in form, and when the work is executed with ordinary care, there is less doubt as to the distribution of stress through a concrete column, than there is with the ordinary structural steel column, since the core is solid and the conditions are similar in all cases. Tests of five columns are submitted herewith. The columns varied little in size, but somewhat in the amount of hooping, with slight differences in the vertical steel. The difference between Columns 1 and 3 is nearly 50%, due principally to the increase in hooping, and to a small addition in the amount of vertical steel. As to the efficiency of hooping and vertical reinforcement, the question may be asked Mr. Godfrey, and those who share his views, whether a column without reinforcement can be cast, which will equal the strength of those, the tests of which are submitted. TEST NO. 1.[I] Marks on column--none. Reinforcement--eight 1-1/8-in. round bars vertically. Band spacing--- 9 in. vertically. Hooped with seven 32-in. wire spirals about 2-in. raise. Outside diameter of hoops--14-1/2 in. Total load at failure--1,360,000 lb. Remarks.--Point of failure was about 22 in. from the top. Little indication of failure until ultimate load was reached. Some slight breaking off of concrete near the top cap, due possibly to the cap not being well seated in the column itself. TEST NO. 2. Marks on column--Box 4. Reinforcement--eight 1-1/8-in. round bars vertically. Band spacing about 13 in. vertically. Wire spiral about 3-in. pitch. Point of failure about 18 in. from top. Top of cast-iron cap cracked at four corners. Ultimate load--1,260,000 lb. Remarks.--Both caps apparently well seated, as was the case with all the subsequent tests. TEST NO. 3. Marks on column--4-B. Reinforcement--eight 7/8-in. round bars vertically. Hoops--1-3/4 in. × 3/16 in. × 14 in. outside diameter. Band spacing--13 in. vertically. Ultimate load--900,000 lb. Point of failure about 2 ft. from top. Remarks.--Concrete, at failure, considerably disintegrated, probably due to continuance of movement of machine after failure. TEST NO. 4. Marks on column--Box 4. Reinforcement--eight 1-in. round bars vertically. Hoops spaced 8 in. vertically. Wire spirals as on other columns. Total load at failure--1,260,000 lb. Remarks.--First indications of failure were nearest the bottom end of the column, but the total failure was, as in all other columns, within 2 ft. of the top. Large cracks in the shell of the column extended from both ends to very near the middle. This was the most satisfactory showing of all the columns, as the failure was extended over nearly the full length of the column. TEST NO. 5. Marks on column--none. Reinforcement--eight 7/8-in. bars vertically. Hoops spaced 10 in. vertically. Outside diameter of hoops--14-1/2 in. Wire spiral as before. Load at failure--1,100,000 lb. Ultimate load--1,130,000 lb. Remarks.--The main point of failure in this, as in all other columns, was within 2 ft. of the top, although this column showed some scaling off at the lower end. In these tests it will be noted that the concrete outside of the hooped area seems to have had very little value in determining the ultimate strength; that, figuring the compression on the core area and deducting the probable value of the vertical steel, these columns exhibited from 5,000 to 7,000 lb. per sq. in. as the ultimate strength of the hooped area, not considering the vertical steel. Some of them run over 8,000 lb. The concrete mixture was 1 part Alpena Portland cement, 1 part sand, 1-1/2 parts buckwheat gravel and 3-1/2 parts gravel ranging from 1/4 to 3/4 in. in size. The columns were cast in the early part of December, and tested in April. The conditions under which they hardened were not particularly favorable, owing to the season of the year. The bands used were 1-3/4 by 1/4 in., except in the light column, where they were 1-3/4 by 3/16 in. In his remarks regarding the tests at Minneapolis, Minn., Mr. Godfrey has failed to note that these tests, faulty as they undoubtedly were, both in the execution of the work, and in the placing of the reinforcement, as well as in the character of the hooping used, were sufficient to satisfy the Department of Buildings that rational design took into consideration the amount of hooping and the amount of vertical steel, and on a basis not far from that which the writer considers reasonable practice. Again, Mr. Godfrey seems to misunderstand the influence of Poisson's ratio in multiple-way reinforcement. If Mr. Godfrey's ideas are correct, it will be found that a slab supported on two sides, and reinforced with rods running directly from support to support, is stronger than a similar slab reinforced with similar rods crossing it diagonally in pairs. Tests of these two kinds of slabs show that those with the diagonal reinforcement develop much greater strength than those reinforced directly from support to support. Records of small test slabs of this kind will be found in the library of the Society. Mr. Godfrey makes the good point that the accuracy of an elastic theory must be determined by the elastic deportment of the construction under load, and it seems to the writer that if authors of textbooks would pay some attention to this question and show by calculation that the elastic deportment of slabs is in keeping with their method of figuring, the gross errors in the theoretical treatment of slabs in the majority of works on reinforced concrete would be remedied. Although he makes the excellent point noted, Mr. Godfrey very inconsistently fails to do this in connection with his theory of slabs, otherwise he would have perceived the absurdity of any method of calculating a multiple-way reinforcement by endeavoring to separate the construction into elementary beam strips. This old-fashioned method was discarded by the practical constructor many years ago, because he was forced to guarantee deflections of actual construction under severe tests. Almost every building department contains some regulation limiting the deflection of concrete floors under test, and yet no commissioner of buildings seems to know anything about calculating deflections. In the course of his practice the writer has been required to give surety bonds of from $50,000 to $100,000 at a time, to guarantee under test both the strength and the deflection of large slabs reinforced in multiple directions, and has been able to do so with accuracy by methods which are equivalent to considering Poisson's ratio, and which are given in his book on concrete steel construction. Until the engineer pays more attention to checking his complicated theories with facts as determined by tests of actual construction, the view, now quite general among the workers in reinforced concrete regarding him will continue to grow stronger, and their respect for him correspondingly less, until such time as he demonstrates the applicability of his theories to ordinary every-day problems. PAUL CHAPMAN, ASSOC. M. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--Mr. Godfrey has pointed out, in a forcible manner, several bad features of text-book design of reinforced concrete beams and retaining walls. The practical engineer, however, has never used such methods of construction. Mr. Godfrey proposes certain rules for the calculation of stresses, but there are no data of experiments, or theoretical demonstrations, to justify their use. It is also of the utmost importance to consider the elastic behavior of structures, whether of steel or concrete. To illustrate this, the writer will cite a case which recently came to his attention. A roof was supported by a horizontal 18-in. I-beam, 33 ft. long, the flanges of which were coped at both ends, and two 6 by 4-in. angles, 15 ft. long, supporting the same, were securely riveted to the web, thereby forming a frame to resist lateral wind pressure. Although the 18-in. I-beam was not loaded to its full capacity, its deflection caused an outward flexure of 3/4 in. and consequent dangerous stresses in the 6 by 4-in. angle struts. The frame should have been designed as a structure fixed at the base of the struts. The importance of the elastic behavior of a structure is forcibly illustrated by comparing the contract drawings for a great cantilever bridge which spans the East River with the expert reports on the same. Due to the neglect of the elastic behavior of the structure in the contract drawings, and another cause, the average error in the stresses of 290 members was 18-1/2%, with a maximum of 94 per cent. Mr. Godfrey calls attention to the fact that stringers in railroad bridges are considered as simple beams; this is theoretically proper because the angle knees at their ends can transfer practically no flange stress. It is also to be noted that when stringers are in the plane of a tension chord, they are milled to exact lengths, and when in the plane of a compression chord, they are given a slight clearance in order to prevent arch action. [Illustration: FIG. 3.] The action of shearing stresses in concrete beams may be illustrated by reference to the diagrams in Fig. 3, where the beams are loaded with a weight, _W_. The portion of _W_ traveling to the left support, moves in diagonal lines, varying from many sets of almost vertical lines to a single diagonal. The maximum intensity of stress probably would be in planes inclined about 45°, since, considered independently, they produce the least deflection. While the load, _W_, remains relatively small, producing but moderate stresses in the steel in the bottom flange, the concrete will carry a considerable portion of the bottom flange tension; when the load _W_ is largely increased, the coefficient of elasticity of the concrete in tension becomes small, or zero, if small fissures appear, and the concrete is unable to transfer the tension in diagonal planes, and failure results. For a beam loaded with a single load, _W_, the failure would probably be in a diagonal line near the point of application, while in a uniformly loaded beam, it would probably occur in a diagonal line near the support, where the shear is greatest. It is evident that the introduction of vertical stirrups, as at _b_, or the more rational inclined stirrups, as at _c_, influences the action of the shearing forces as indicated, the intensity of stress at the point of connection of the stirrups being high. It is advisable to space the stirrups moderately close, in order to reduce this intensity to reasonable limits. If the assumption is made that the diagonal compression in the concrete acts in a plane inclined at 45°, then the tension in the vertical stirrups will be the vertical shear times the horizontal spacing of the stirrups divided by the distance, center to center, of the top and bottom flanges of the beam. If the stirrups are inclined at 45°, the stress in them would be 0.7 the stress in vertical stirrups with the same spacing. Bending up bottom rods sharply, in order to dispense with suspenders, is bad practice; the writer has observed diagonal cracks in the beams of a well-known building in New York City, which are due to this cause. [Illustration: FIG. 4.] In several structures which the writer has recently designed, he has been able to dispense with stirrups, and, at the same time, effect a saving in concrete, by bending some of the bottom reinforcing rods and placing a bar between them and those which remain horizontal. A typical detail is shown in Fig. 4. The bend occurs at a point where the vertical component of the stress in the bent bars equals the vertical shear, and sufficient bearing is provided by the short cross-bar. The bars which remain horizontal throughout the beam, are deflected at the center of the beam in order to obtain the maximum effective depth. There being no shear at the center, the bars are spaced as closely as possible, and still provide sufficient room for the concrete to flow to the soffit of the beam. Two or more adjacent beams are readily made continuous by extending the bars bent up from each span, a distance along the top flanges. By this system of construction one avoids stopping a bar where the live load unit stress in adjoining bars is high, as their continual lengthening and shortening under stress would cause severe shearing stresses in the concrete surrounding the end of the short bar. [Illustration: FIG. 5.] The beam shown in Fig. 5 illustrates the principles stated in the foregoing, as applied to a heavier beam. The duty of the short cross-bars in this case is performed by wires wrapped around the longitudinal rods and then continued up in order to support the bars during erection. This beam, which supports a roof and partitions, etc., has supported about 80% of the load for which it was calculated, and no hair cracks or noticeable deflection have appeared. If the method of calculation suggested by Mr. Godfrey were a correct criterion of the actual stresses, this particular beam (and many others) would have shown many cracks and noticeable deflection. The writer maintains that where the concrete is poured continuously, or proper bond is provided, the influence of the slab as a compression flange is an actual condition, and the stresses should be calculated accordingly. In the calculation of continuous T-beams, it is necessary to consider the fact that the moment of inertia for negative moments is small because of the lack of sufficient compressive area in the stem or web. If Mr. Godfrey will make proper provision for this point, in studying the designs of practical engineers, he will find due provision made for negative moments. It is very easy to obtain the proper amount of steel for the negative moment in a slab by bending up the bars and letting them project into adjoining spans, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 (taken from actual construction). The practical engineer does not find, as Mr. Godfrey states, that the negative moment is double the positive moment, because he considers the live load either on one span only, or on alternate spans. [Illustration: FIG. 6.] In Fig. 6 a beam is shown which has many rods in the bottom flange, a practice which Mr. Godfrey condemns. As the structure, which has about twenty similar beams, is now being built, the writer would be thankful for his criticism. Mr. Godfrey states that longitudinal steel in columns is worthless, but until definite tests are made, with the same ingredients, proportions, and age, on both plain concrete and reinforced concrete columns properly designed, the writer will accept the data of other experiments, and proportion steel in accordance with recognized formulas. [Illustration: FIG. 7.] Mr. Godfrey states that the "elastic theory" is worthless for the design of reinforced concrete arches, basing his objections on the shrinkage of concrete in setting, the unreliability of deflection formulas for beams, and the lack of rigidity of the abutments. The writer, noting that concrete setting in air shrinks, whereas concrete setting in water expands, believes that if the arch be properly wetted until the setting up of the concrete has progressed sufficiently, the effect of shrinkage, on drying out, may be minimized. If the settlement of the forms themselves be guarded against during the construction of an arch, the settlement of the arch ring, on removing the forms, far from being an uncertain element, should be a check on the accuracy of the calculations and the workmanship, since the weight of the arch ring should produce theoretically a certain deflection. The unreliability of deflection formulas for beams is due mainly to the fact that the neutral axis of the beam does not lie in a horizontal plane throughout, and that the shearing stresses are neglected therein. While there is necessarily bending in an arch ring due to temperature, loads, etc., the extreme flanges sometimes being in tension, even in a properly designed arch, the compression exceeds the tension to such an extent that comparison to a beam does not hold true. An arch should not be used where the abutments are unstable, any more than a suspension bridge should be built where a suitable anchorage cannot be obtained. The proper design of concrete slabs supported on four sides is a complex and interesting study. The writer has recently designed a floor construction, slabs, and beams, supported on four corners, which is simple and economical. In Fig. 7 is shown a portion of a proposed twelve-story building, 90 by 100 ft., having floors with a live-load capacity of 250 lb. per sq. ft. For the maximum positive bending in any panel the full load on that panel was considered, there being no live load on adjoining panels. For the maximum negative bending moment all panels were considered as loaded, and in a single line. "Checker-board" loading was considered too improbable for consideration. The flexure curves for beams at right angles to each other were similar (except in length), the tension rods in the longer beams being placed underneath those in the shorter beams. Under full load, therefore, approximately one-half of the load went to the long-span girder and the other half to the short-span girder. The girders were the same depth as the beams. For its depth the writer found this system to be the strongest and most economical of those investigated. E.P. GOODRICH, M. AM. SOC. C. E.--The speaker heartily concurs with the author as to the large number of makeshifts constantly used by a majority of engineers and other practitioners who design and construct work in reinforced concrete. It is exceedingly difficult for the human mind to grasp new ideas without associating them with others in past experience, but this association is apt to clothe the new idea (as the author suggests) in garments which are often worse than "swaddling-bands," and often go far toward strangling proper growth. While the speaker cannot concur with equal ardor with regard to all the author's points, still in many, he is believed to be well grounded in his criticism. Such is the case with regard to the first point mentioned--that of the use of bends of large radius where the main tension rods are bent so as to assist in the resistance of diagonal tensile stresses. As to the second point, provided proper anchorage is secured in the top concrete for the rod marked 3 in Fig. 1, the speaker cannot see why the concrete beneath such anchorage over the support does not act exactly like the end post of a queen-post truss. Nor can he understand the author's statement that: "A reinforcing rod in a concrete beam receives its stress by increments imparted by the grip of the concrete; but these increments can only be imparted where the tendency of the concrete is to stretch." The latter part of this quotation has reference to the point questioned by the speaker. In fact, the remainder of the paragraph from which this quotation is taken seems to be open to grave question, no reason being evident for not carrying out the analogy of the queen-post truss to the extreme. Along this line, it is a well-known fact that the bottom chords in queen-post trusses are useless, as far as resistance to tension is concerned. The speaker concurs, however, in the author's criticism as to the lack of anchorage usually found in most reinforcing rods, particularly those of the type mentioned in the author's second point. This matter of end anchorage is also referred to in the third point, and is fully concurred in by the speaker, who also concurs in the criticism of the arrangement of the reinforcing rods in the counterforts found in many retaining walls. The statement that "there is absolutely no analogy between this triangle [the counterfort] and a beam" is very strong language, and it seems risky, even for the best engineer, to make such a statement as does the author when he characterizes his own design (Diagram _b_ of Fig. 2) as "the only rational and the only efficient design possible." Several assumptions can be made on which to base the arrangement of reinforcement in the counterfort of a retaining wall, each of which can be worked out with equal logic and with results which will prevent failure, as has been amply demonstrated by actual experience. The speaker heartily concurs in the author's fourth point, with regard to the impossibility of developing anything like actual shear in the steel reinforcing rods of a concrete beam; but he demurs when the author affirms, as to the possibility of so-called shear bars being stressed in "shear or tension," that "either would be absurd and impossible without greatly overstressing some other part." As to the fifth point, reference can be given to more than one place in concrete literature where explanations of the action of vertical stirrups may be found, all of which must have been overlooked by the author. However, the speaker heartily concurs with the author's criticism as to the lack of proper connection which almost invariably exists between vertical "web" members and the top and bottom chords of the imaginary Howe truss, which holds the nearest analogy to the conditions existing in a reinforced concrete beam with vertical "web" reinforcement. The author's reasoning as to the sixth point must be considered as almost wholly facetious. He seems to be unaware of the fact that concrete is relatively very strong in pure shear. Large numbers of tests seem to demonstrate that, where it is possible to arrange the reinforcing members so as to carry largely all tensile stresses developed through shearing action, at points where such tensile stresses cannot be carried by the concrete, reinforced concrete beams can be designed of ample strength and be quite within the logical processes developed by the author, as the speaker interprets them. The author's characterization of the results secured at the University of Illinois Experiment Station, and described in its Bulletin No. 29, is somewhat misleading. It is true that the wording of the original reference states in two places that "stirrups do not come into action, at least not to any great extent, until a diagonal crack has formed," but, in connection with this statement, the following quotations must be read: "The tests were planned with a view of determining the amount of stress (tension and bond) developed in the stirrups. However, for various reasons, the results are of less value than was expected. The beams were not all made according to the plans. In the 1907 tests, the stirrups in a few of the beams were poorly placed and even left exposed at the face of the beam, and a variation in the temperature conditions of the laboratory also affected the results. It is evident from the results that the stresses developed in the stirrups are less than they were calculated to be, and hence the layout was not well planned to settle the points at issue. The tests, however, give considerable information on the effectiveness of stirrups in providing web resistance." "A feature of the tests of beams with stirrups is slow failure, the load holding well up to the maximum under increased deflection and giving warning of its condition." "Not enough information was obtained to determine the actual final occasion of failure in these tests. In a number of cases the stirrups slipped, in others it seemed that the steel in the stirrups was stretched beyond its elastic limit, and in some cases the stirrups broke." "As already stated, slip of stirrups and insufficient bond resistance were in many cases the immediate cause of diagonal tension failures, and therefore bond resistance of stirrups may be considered a critical stress." These quotations seem to indicate much more effectiveness in the action of vertical stirrups than the author would lead one to infer from his criticisms. It is rather surprising that he advocates so strongly the use of a suspension system of reinforcement. That variety has been used abroad for many years, and numerous German experiments have proved with practical conclusiveness that the suspension system is not as efficient as the one in which vertical stirrups are used with a proper arrangement. An example is the conclusion arrived at by Mörsch, in "Eisenbetonbau," from a series of tests carried out by him near the end of 1906: "It follows that with uniform loads, the suspended system of reinforcement does not give any increase of safety against the appearance of diagonal tension cracks, or the final failure produced by them, as compared with straight rods without stirrups, and that stirrups are so much the more necessary." Again, with regard to tests made with two concentrated loads, he writes: "The stirrups, supplied on one end, through their tensile strength, hindered the formation of diagonal cracks and showed themselves essential and indispensable elements in the * * * [suspension] system. The limit of their effect is, however, not disclosed by these experiments. * * * In any case, from the results of the second group of experiments can be deduced the facts that the bending of the reinforcement according to the theory concerning the diagonal tensile stress * * * is much more effective than according to the suspension theory, in this case the ultimate loads being in the proportion of 34: 23.4: 25.6." It is the speaker's opinion that the majority of the failures described in Bulletin No. 29 of the University of Illinois Experiment Station, which are ascribed to diagonal tension, were actually due to deficient anchorage of the upper ends of the stirrups. Some years ago the speaker demonstrated to his own satisfaction, the practical value of vertical stirrups. Several beams were built identical in every respect except in the size of wire used for web reinforcement. The latter varied from nothing to 3/8-in. round by five steps. The beams were similarly tested to destruction, and the ultimate load and type of failure varied in a very definite ratio to the area of vertical steel. With regard to the author's seventh point, the speaker concurs heartily as far as it has to do with a criticism of the usual design of continuous beams, but his experience with beams designed as suggested by the author is that failure will take place eventually by vertical cracks starting from the top of the beams close to the supports and working downward so as to endanger very seriously the strength of the structures involved. This type of failure was prophesied by the speaker a number of years ago, and almost every examination which he has lately made of concrete buildings, erected for five years or longer and designed practically in accord with the author's suggestion, have disclosed such dangerous features, traceable directly to the ideas described in the paper. These ideas are held by many other engineers, as well as being advocated by the author. The only conditions under which the speaker would permit of the design of a continuous series of beams as simple members would be when they are entirely separated from each other over the supports, as by the introduction of artificial joints produced by a double thickness of sheet metal or building paper. Even under these conditions, the speaker's experience with separately moulded members, manufactured in a shop and subsequently erected, has shown that similar top cracking may take place under certain circumstances, due to the vertical pressures caused by the reactions at the supports. It is very doubtful whether the action described by the author, as to the type of failure which would probably take place with his method of design, would be as described by him, but the beams would be likely to crack as described above, in accordance with the speaker's experience, so that the whole load supported by the beam would be carried by the reinforcing rods which extend from the beam into the supports and are almost invariably entirely horizontal at such points. The load would thus be carried more nearly by the shearing strength of the steel than is otherwise possible to develop that type of stress. In every instance the latter is a dangerous element. This effect of vertical abutment action on a reinforced beam was very marked in the beam built of bricks and tested by the speaker, as described in the discussion[J] of the paper by John S. Sewell, M. Am, Soc. S. E., on "The Economical Design of Reinforced Concrete Floor Systems for Fire-Resisting Structures." That experiment also went far toward showing the efficacy of vertical stirrups. The same discussion also contains a description of a pair of beams tested for comparative purposes, in one of which adhesion between the concrete and the main reinforcing rods was possible only on the upper half of the exterior surfaces of the latter rods except for short distances near the ends. Stirrups were used, however. The fact that the beam, which was theoretically very deficient in adhesion, failed in compression, while the similar beam without stirrups, but with the most perfect adhesion, and anchorage obtainable through the use of large end hooks, failed in bond, has led the speaker to believe that, in affording adhesive resistance, the upper half of a bar is much more effective than the lower half. This seems to be demonstrated further by comparisons between simple adhesion experiments and those obtained with beams. The speaker heartily concurs with the author's criticism of the amount of time usually given by designing engineers to the determination of the adhesive stresses developed in concrete beams, but, according to the speaker's recollection, these matters are not so poorly treated in some books as might be inferred by the author's language. For example, both Bulletin No. 29, of the University of Illinois, and Mörsch, in "Eisenbetonbau," give them considerable attention. The ninth point raised by the author is well taken. Too great emphasis cannot be laid on the inadequacy of design disclosed by an examination of many T-beams. Such ready concurrence, however, is not lent to the author's tenth point. While it is true that, under all usual assumptions, except those made by the author, an extremely simple formula for the resisting moment of a reinforced concrete beam cannot be obtained, still his formula falls so far short of fitting even with approximate correctness the large number of well-known experiments which have been published, that a little more mathematical gymnastic ability on the part of the author and of other advocates of extreme simplicity would seem very necessary, and will produce structures which are far more economical and amply safe structurally, compared with those which would be produced in accordance with his recommendations. As to the eleventh point, in regard to the complex nature of the formulas for chimneys and other structures of a more or less complex beam nature, the graphical methods developed by numerous German and Italian writers are recommended, as they are fully as simple as the rather crude method advocated by the author, and are in almost identical accord with the most exacting analytical methods. With regard to the author's twelfth point, concerning deflection calculations, it would seem that they play such a small part in reinforced concrete design, and are required so rarely, that any engineer who finds it necessary to make analytical investigations of possible deflections would better use the most precise analysis at his command, rather than fall back on simpler but much more approximate devices such as the one advocated by the author. Much of the criticism contained in the author's thirteenth point, concerning the application of the elastic theory to the design of concrete arches, is justified, because designing engineers do not carry the theory to its logical conclusion nor take into account the actual stresses which may be expected from slight changes of span, settlements of abutments, and unexpected amounts of shrinkage in the arch ring or ribs. Where conditions indicate that such changes are likely to take place, as is almost invariably the case unless the foundations are upon good rock and the arch ring has been concreted in relatively short sections, with ample time and device to allow for initial shrinkage; or unless the design is arranged and the structure erected so that hinges are provided at the abutments to act during the striking of the falsework, which hinges are afterward wedged or grouted so as to produce fixation of the arch ends--unless all these points are carefully considered in the design and erection, it is the speaker's opinion that the elastic theory is rarely properly applicable, and the use of the equilibrium polygon recommended by the author is much preferable and actually more accurate. But there must be consistency in its use, as well, that is, consistency between methods of design and erection. The author's fourteenth point--the determination of temperature stresses in a reinforced concrete arch--is to be considered in the same light as that described under the foregoing points, but it seems a little amusing that the author should finally advocate a design of concrete arch which actually has no hinges, namely, one consisting of practically rigid blocks, after he has condemned so heartily the use of the elastic theory. A careful analysis of the data already available with regard to the heat conductivity of concrete, applied to reinforced concrete structures like arches, dams, retaining walls, etc., in accordance with the well-known but somewhat intricate mathematical formulas covering the laws of heat conductivity and radiation so clearly enunciated by Fourier, has convinced the speaker that it is well within the bounds of engineering practice to predict and care for the stresses which will be produced in structures of the simplest forms, at least as far as they are affected by temperature changes. The speaker concurs with the author in his criticism, contained in the fifteenth point, with regard to the design of the steel reinforcement in columns and other compression members. While there may be some question as to the falsity or truth of the theory underlying certain types of design, it is unquestioned that some schemes of arrangement undoubtedly produce designs with dangerous properties. The speaker has several times called attention to this point, in papers and discussions, and invariably in his own practice requires that the spacing of spirals, hoops, or ties be many times less than that usually required by building regulations and found in almost every concrete structure. Mörsch, in his "Eisenbetonbau," calls attention to the fact that very definite limits should be placed on the maximum size of longitudinal rods as well as on their minimum diameters, and on the maximum spacing of ties, where columns are reinforced largely by longitudinal members. He goes so far as to state that: "It is seen from * * * [the results obtained] that an increase in the area of longitudinal reinforcement does not produce an increase in the breaking strength to the extent which would be indicated by the formula. * * * In inexperienced hands this formula may give rise to constructions which are not sufficiently safe." Again, with regard to the spacing of spirals and the combination with them of longitudinal rods, in connection with some tests carried out by Mörsch, the conclusion is as follows: "On the whole, the tests seem to prove that when the spirals are increased in strength, their pitch must be decreased, and the cross-section or number of the longitudinal rods must be increased." In the majority of cases, the spiral or band spacing is altogether too large, and, from conversations with Considère, the speaker understands that to be the inventor's view as well. The speaker makes use of the scheme mentioned by the author in regard to the design of flat slabs supported on more than two sides (noted in the sixteenth point), namely, that of dividing the area into strips, the moments of which are determined so as to produce computed deflections which are equal in the two strips running at right angles at each point of intersection. This method, however, requires a large amount of analytical work for any special case, and the speaker is mildly surprised that the author cannot recommend some simpler method so as to carry out his general scheme of extreme simplification of methods and design. If use is to be made at all of deflection observations, theories, and formulas, account should certainly be taken of the actual settlements and other deflections which invariably occur in Nature at points of support. These changes of level, or slope, or both, actually alter very considerably the stresses as usually computed, and, in all rigorous design work, should be considered. On the whole, the speaker believes that the author has put himself in the class with most iconoclasts, in that he has overshot his mark. There seems to be a very important point, however, on which he has touched, namely, the lack of care exercised by most designers with regard to those items which most nearly correspond with the so-called "details" of structural steel work, and are fully as important in reinforced concrete as in steel. It is comparatively a small matter to proportion a simple reinforced concrete beam at its intersection to resist a given moment, but the carrying out of that item of the work is only a start on the long road which should lead through the consideration of every detail, not the least important of which are such items as most of the sixteen points raised by the author. The author has done the profession a great service by raising these questions, and, while full concurrence is not had with him in all points, still the speaker desires to express his hearty thanks for starting what is hoped will be a complete discussion of the really vital matter of detailing reinforced concrete design work. ALBIN H. BEYER, ESQ.--Mr. Goodrich has brought out very clearly the efficiency of vertical stirrups. As Mr. Godfrey states that explanations of how stirrups act are conspicuous in the literature of reinforced concrete by their absence, the speaker will try to explain their action in a reinforced concrete beam. It is well known that the internal static conditions in reinforced concrete beams change to some extent with the intensity of the direct or normal stresses in the steel and concrete. In order to bring out his point, the speaker will trace, in such a beam, the changes in the internal static conditions due to increasing vertical loads. [Illustration: FIG. 8.] Let Fig. 8 represent a beam reinforced by horizontal steel rods of such diameter that there is no possibility of failure from lack of adhesion of the concrete to the steel. The beam is subjected to the vertical loads, [Sigma] _P_. For low unit stresses in the concrete, the neutral surface, _n n_, is approximately in the middle of the beam. Gradually increase the loads, [Sigma] _P_, until the steel reaches an elongation of from 0.01 to 0.02 of 1%, corresponding to tensile stresses in the steel of from 3,000 to 6,000 lb. per sq. in. At this stage plain concrete would have reached its ultimate elongation. It is known, however, that reinforced concrete, when well made, can sustain without rupture much greater elongations; tests have shown that its ultimate elongation may be as high as 0.1 of 1%, corresponding to tensions in steel of 30,000 lb. per sq. in. Reinforced concrete structures ordinarily show tensile cracks at very much lower unit stresses in the steel. The main cause of these cracks is as follows: Reinforced concrete setting in dry air undergoes considerable shrinkage during the first few days, when it has very little resistance. This tendency to shrink being opposed by the reinforcement at a time when the concrete does not possess the necessary strength or ductility, causes invisible cracks or planes of weakness in the concrete. These cracks open and become visible at very low unit stresses in the steel. Increase the vertical loads, [Sigma] _P_, and the neutral surface will rise and small tensile cracks will appear in the concrete below the neutral surface (Fig. 8). These cracks are most numerous in the central part of the span, where they are nearly vertical. They decrease in number at the ends of the span, where they curve slightly away from the perpendicular toward the center of the span. The formation of these tensile cracks in the concrete relieves it at once of its highly stressed condition. It is impossible to predict the unit tension in the steel at which these cracks begin to form. They can be detected, though not often visible, when the unit tensions in the steel are as low as from 10,000 to 16,000 lb. per sq. in. As soon as the tensile cracks form, though invisible, the neutral surface approaches the position in the beam assigned to it by the common theory of flexure, with the tension in the concrete neglected. The internal static conditions in the beam are now modified to the extent that the concrete below the neutral surface is no longer continuous. The common theory of flexure can no longer be used to calculate the web stresses. To analyze the internal static conditions developed, the speaker will treat as a free body the shaded portion of the beam shown in Fig. 8, which lies between two tensile cracks. [Illustration: FIG. 9.] In Fig. 9 are shown all the forces which act on this free body, _C b b' C'_. At any section, let _C_ or _C'_ represent the total concrete compression; _T_ or _T'_ represent the total steel tension; _J_ or _J'_ represent the total vertical shear; _P_ represent the total vertical load for the length, _b_ - _b'_; and let [Delta] _T_ = _T'_ - _T_ = _C'_ - _C_ represent the total transverse shear for the length, _b_ - _b'_. Assuming that the tension cracks extend to the neutral surface, _n n_, that portion of the beam _C b b' C'_, acts as a cantilever fixed at _a b_ and _a' b'_, and subjected to the unbalanced steel tension, [Delta] _T_. The vertical shear, _J_, is carried mainly by the concrete above the neutral surface, very little of it being carried by the steel reinforcement. In the case of plain webs, the tension cracks are the forerunners of the sudden so-called diagonal tension failures produced by the snapping off, below the neutral surface, of the concrete cantilevers. The logical method of reinforcing these cantilevers is by inserting vertical steel in the tension side. The vertical reinforcement, to be efficient, must be well anchored, both in the top and in the bottom of the beam. Experience has solved the problem of doing this by the use of vertical steel in the form of stirrups, that is, U-shaped rods. The horizontal reinforcement rests in the bottom of the U. Sufficient attention has not been paid to the proper anchorage of the upper ends of the stirrups. They should extend well into the compression area of the beam, where they should be properly anchored. They should not be too near the surface of the beam. They must not be too far apart, and they must be of sufficient cross-section to develop the necessary tensile forces at not excessive unit stresses. A working tension in the stirrups which is too high, will produce a local disintegration of the cantilevers, and give the beam the appearance of failure due to diagonal tension. Their distribution should follow closely that of the vertical or horizontal shear in the beam. Practice must rely on experiment for data as to the size and distribution of stirrups for maximum efficiency. The maximum shearing stress in a concrete beam is commonly computed by the equation: _V_ _v_ = ------------- (1) 7 --- _b_ _d_ 8 Where _d_ is the distance from the center of the reinforcing bars to the surface of the beam in compression: _b_ = the width of the flange, and _V_ = the total vertical shear at the section. This equation gives very erratic results, because it is based on a continuous web. For a non-continuous web, it should be modified to _V_ _v_ = ------------- (2) _K_ _b_ _d_ In this equation _K b d_ represents the concrete area in compression. The value of _K_ is approximately equal to 0.4. Three large concrete beams with web reinforcement, tested at the University of Illinois[K], developed an average maximum shearing resistance of 215 lb. per sq. in., computed by Equation 1. Equation 2 would give 470 lb. per sq. in. Three T-beams, having 32 by 3-1/4-in. flanges and 8-in. webs, tested at the University of Illinois, had maximum shearing resistances of 585, 605, and 370 lb. per. sq. in., respectively.[L] They did not fail in shear, although they appeared to develop maximum shearing stresses which were almost three times as high as those in the rectangular beams mentioned. The concrete and web reinforcement being identical, the discrepancy must be somewhere else. Based on a non-continuous concrete web, the shearing resistances become 385, 400, and 244 lb. per sq. in., respectively. As none of these failed in shear, the ultimate shearing resistance of concrete must be considerably higher than any of the values given. About thirteen years ago, Professor A. Vierendeel[M] developed the theory of open-web girder construction. By an open-web girder, the speaker means a girder which has a lower and upper chord connected by verticals. Several girders of this type, far exceeding solid girders in length, have been built. The theory of the open-web girder, assuming the verticals to be hinged at their lower ends, applies to the concrete beam reinforced with stirrups. Assuming that the spaces between the verticals of the girder become continually narrower, they become the tension cracks of the concrete beam.[N] JOHN C. OSTRUP, M. AM. SOC. C. E.--The author has rendered a great service to the Profession in presenting this paper. In his first point he mentions two designs of reinforced concrete beams and, inferentially, he condemns a third design to which the speaker will refer later. The designs mentioned are, first, that of a reinforced concrete beam arranged in the shape of a rod, with separate concrete blocks placed on top of it without being connected--such a beam has its strength only in the rod. It is purely a suspension, or "hog-chain" affair, and the blocks serve no purpose, but simply increase the load on the rod and its stresses. The author's second design is an invention of his own, which the Profession at large is invited to adopt. This is really the same system as the first, except that the blocks are continuous and, presumably, fixed at the ends. When they are so fixed, the concrete will take compressive stresses and a certain portion of the shear, the remaining shear being transmitted to the rod from the concrete above it, but only through friction. Now, the frictional resistance between a steel rod and a concrete beam is not such as should be depended on in modern engineering designs. The third method is that which is used by nearly all competent designers, and it seems to the speaker that, in condemning the general practice of current reinforced designs in sixteen points, the author could have saved himself some time and labor by condemning them all in one point. What appears to be the underlying principle of reinforced concrete design is the adhesion, or bond, between the steel and the concrete, and it is that which tends to make the two materials act in unison. This is a point which has not been touched on sufficiently, and one which it was expected that Mr. Beyer would have brought out, when he illustrated certain internal static conditions. This principle, in the main, will cover the author's fifth point, wherein stirrups are mentioned, and again in the first point, wherein he asks: "Will some advocate of this type of design please state where this area can be found?" To understand clearly how concrete acts in conjunction with steel, it is necessary to analyze the following question: When a steel rod is embedded in a solid block of concrete, and that rod is put in tension, what will be the stresses in the rod and the surrounding concrete? The answer will be illustrated by reference to Fig. 10. It must be understood that the unit stresses should be selected so that both the concrete and the steel may be stressed in the same relative ratio. Assuming the tensile stress in the steel to be 16,000 lb. per sq. in., and the bonding value 80 lb., a simple formula will show that the length of embedment, or that part of the rod which will act, must be equal to 50 diameters of the rod. [Illustration: FIG. 10.] When the rod is put in tension, as indicated in Fig. 10, what will be the stresses in the surrounding concrete? The greatest stress will come on the rod at the point where it leaves the concrete, where it is a maximum, and it will decrease from that point inward until the total stress in the steel has been distributed to the surrounding concrete. At that point the rod will only be stressed back for a distance equal in length to 50 diameters, no matter how far beyond that length the rod may extend. The distribution of the stress from the steel rod to the concrete can be represented by a cone, the base of which is at the outer face of the block, as the stresses will be zero at a point 50 diameters back, and will increase in a certain ratio out toward the face of the block, and will also, at all intermediate points, decrease radially outward from the rod. The intensity of the maximum stress exerted on the concrete is represented by the shaded area in Fig. 10, the ordinates, measured perpendicularly to the rod, indicating the maximum resistance offered by the concrete at any point. If the concrete had a constant modulus of elasticity under varying stress, and if the two materials had the same modulus, the stress triangle would be bounded by straight lines (shown as dotted lines in Fig. 10); but as this is not true, the variable moduli will modify the stress triangle in a manner which will tend to make the boundary lines resemble parabolic curves. A triangle thus constructed will represent by scale the intensity of the stress in the concrete, and if the ordinates indicate stresses greater than that which the concrete will stand, a portion will be destroyed, broken off, and nothing more serious will happen than that this stress triangle will adjust itself, and grip the rod farther back. This process keeps on until the end of the rod has been reached, when the triangle will assume a much greater maximum depth as it shortens; or, in other words, the disintegration of the concrete will take place here very rapidly, and the rod will be pulled out. In the author's fourth point he belittles the use of shear rods, and states: "No hint is given as to whether these bars are in shear or in tension." As a matter of fact, they are neither in shear nor wholly in tension, they are simply in bending between the centers of the compressive resultants, as indicated in Fig. 12, and are, besides, stressed slightly in tension between these two points. [Illustration: FIG. 11.] In Fig. 10 the stress triangle indicates the distribution and the intensity of the resistance in the concrete to a force acting parallel to the rod. A similar triangle may be drawn, Fig. 11, showing the resistance of the rod and the resultant distribution in the concrete to a force perpendicular to the rod. Here the original force would cause plain shear in the rod, were the latter fixed in position. Since this cannot be the case, the force will be resolved into two components, one of which will cause a tensile stress in the rod and the other will pass through the centroid of the compressive stress area. This is indicated in Fig. 11, which, otherwise, is self-explanatory. [Illustration: FIG. 12.] Rods are not very often placed in such a position, but where it is unavoidable, as in construction joints in the middle of slabs or beams, they serve a very good purpose; but, to obtain the best effect from them, they should be placed near the center of the slab, as in Fig. 12, and not near the top, as advocated by some writers. If the concrete be overstressed at the points where the rod tends to bend, that is, if the rods are spaced too far apart, disintegration will follow; and, for this reason, they should be long enough to have more than 50 diameters gripped by the concrete. This leads up to the author's seventh point, as to the overstressing of the concrete at the junction of the diagonal tension rods, or stirrups, and the bottom reinforcement. [Illustration: FIG. 13.] Analogous with the foregoing, it is easy to lay off the stress triangles and to find the intensity of stress at the maximum points, in fact at any point, along the tension rods and the bottom chord. This is indicated in Fig. 13. These stress triangles will start on the rod 50 diameters back from the point in question and, although the author has indicated in Fig. 1 that only two of the three rods are stressed, there must of necessity also be some stress in the bottom rod to the left of the junction, on account of the deformation which takes place in any beam due to bending. Therefore, all three rods at the point where they are joined, are under stress, and the triangles can be laid off accordingly. It will be noticed that the concrete will resist the compressive components, not at any specific point, but all along the various rods, and with the intensities shown by the stress triangles; also, that some of these triangles will overlap, and, hence, a certain readjustment, or superimposition, of stresses takes place. The portion which is laid off below the bottom rods will probably not act unless there is sufficient concrete below the reinforcing bars and on the sides, and, as that is not the case in ordinary construction, it is very probable, as Mr. Goodrich has pointed out, that the concrete below the rods plays an unimportant part, and that the triangle which is now shown below the rod should be partially omitted. The triangles in Fig. 13 show the intensity of stress in the concrete at any point, or at any section where it is wanted. They show conclusively where the components are located in the concrete, their relation to the tensile stresses in the rods, and, furthermore, that they act only in a general way at right angles to one another. This is in accordance with the theory of beams, that at any point in the web there are tensile and compressive stresses of equal intensity, and at right angles to one another, although in a non-homogeneous web the distribution is somewhat different. After having found at the point of junction the intensity of stress, it is possible to tell whether or not a bond between the stirrups and the bottom rods is necessary, and it would not seem to be where the stirrups are vertical. It would also seem possible to tell in what direction, if any, the bend in the inclined stirrups should be made. It is to be assumed, although not expressly stated, that the bends should curve from the center up toward the end of the beam, but an inspection of the stress triangles, Fig. 13, will show that the intensity of stress is just as great on the opposite side, and it is probable that, if any bends were required to reduce the maximum stress in the concrete, they should as likely be made on the side nearest the abutment. From the stress triangles it may also be shown that, if the stirrups were vertical instead of inclined, the stress in the concrete on both sides would be practically equal, and that, in consequence, vertical stirrups are preferable. The next issue raised by the author is covered in his seventh point, and relates to bending moments. He states: "* * * bending moments in so-called continuous beams are juggled to reduce them to what the designer would like to have them. This has come to be almost a matter of taste, * * *." The author seems to imply that such juggling is wrong. As a matter of fact, it is perfectly allowable and legitimate in every instance of beam or truss design, that is, from the standpoint of stress distribution, although this "juggling" is limited in practice by economical considerations. In a series of beams supported at the ends, bending moments range from (_w_ _l^{2}_)/8 at the center of each span to zero at the supports, and, in a series of cantilevers, from zero at the center of the span to (_w_ _l^{2}_)/8 at the supports. Between these two extremes, the designer can divide, adjust, or juggle them to his heart's content, provided that in his design he makes the proper provision for the corresponding shifting of the points of contra-flexure. If that were not the case, how could ordinary bridge trusses, which have their maximum bending at the center, compare with those which, like arches, are assumed to have no bending at that point? In his tenth point, the author proposes a method of simple designing by doing away with the complicated formulas which take account of the actual co-operation of the two materials. He states that an ideal design can be obtained in the same manner, that is, with the same formulas, as for ordinary rectangular beams; but, when he does so, he evidently fails to remember that the neutral axis is not near the center of a reinforced concrete beam under stress; in fact, with the percentage of reinforcement ordinarily used in designing--varying between three-fourths of 1% to 1-1/2%--the neutral axis, when the beam is loaded, is shifted from 26 to 10% of the beam depth above the center. Hence, a low percentage of steel reinforcement will produce a great shifting of the neutral axis, so that a design based on the formulas advocated by the author would contain either a waste of materials, an overstress of the concrete, or an understress of the steel; in fact, an error in the design of from 10 to 26 per cent. Such errors, indeed, are not to be recommended by good engineers. The last point which the speaker will discuss is that of the elastic arch. The theory of the elastic arch is now so well understood, and it offers such a simple and, it might be said, elegant and self-checking solution of the arch design, that it has a great many advantages, and practically none of the disadvantages of other methods. The author's statement that the segments of an arch could be made up of loose blocks and afterward cemented together, cannot be endorsed by the speaker, for, upon such cementing together, a shifting of the lines of resistance will take place when the load is applied. The speaker does not claim that arches are maintained by the cement or mortar joining the voussoirs together, but that the lines of pressure will be materially changed, and the same calculations are not applicable to both the unloaded and the loaded arch. It is quite true, as the author states, that a few cubic yards of concrete placed in the ring will strengthen the arch more than a like amount added to the abutments, provided, however, that this material be placed properly. No good can result from an attempt to strengthen a structure by placing the reinforcing material promiscuously. This has been tried by amateurs in bridge construction, and, in such cases, the material either increased the distance from the neutral axis to the extreme fibers, thereby reducing the original section modulus, or caused a shifting of the neutral axis followed by a large bending moment; either method weakening the members it had tried to reinforce. In other words, the mere addition of material does not always strengthen a structure, unless it is placed in the proper position, and, if so placed, it should be placed all over commensurately with the stresses, that is, the unit stresses should be reduced. The author has criticized reinforced concrete construction on the ground that the formulas and theories concerning it are not as yet fully developed. This is quite true, for the simple reason that there are so many uncertain elements which form their basis: First, the variable quantity of the modulus of elasticity, which, in the concrete, varies inversely as the stress; and, second, the fact that the neutral axis in a reinforced concrete beam under changing stress is migratory. There are also many other elements of evaluation, which, though of importance, are uncertain. Because the formulas are established on certain assumptions is no reason for condemning them. There are, the speaker might add, few formulas in the subject of theoretical mechanics which are not based on some assumption, and as long as the variations are such that their range is known, perfectly reliable formulas can be deduced and perfectly safe structures can be built from them. There are a great many theorists who have recently complained about the design of reinforced concrete. It seems to the speaker that such complaints can serve no useful purpose. Reinforced concrete structures are being built in steadily increasing numbers; they are filling a long needed place; they are at present rendering great service to mankind; and they are destined to cover a field of still greater usefulness. Reinforced concrete will undoubtedly show in the future that the confidence which most engineers and others now place in it is fully merited. HARRY F. PORTER, JUN. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--Mr. Godfrey has brought forward some interesting and pertinent points, which, in the main, are well taken; but, in his zealousness, he has fallen into the error of overpersuading himself of the gravity of some of the points he would make; on the other hand, he fails to go deeply enough into others, and some fallacies he leaves untouched. Incidentally, he seems somewhat unfair to the Profession in general, in which many earnest, able men are at work on this problem, men who are not mere theorists, but have been reared in the hard school of practical experience, where refinements of theory count for little, but common sense in design counts for much--not to mention those self-sacrificing devotees to the advancement of the art, the collegiate and laboratory investigators. Engineers will all agree with Mr. Godfrey that there is much in the average current practice that is erroneous, much in textbooks that is misleading if not fallacious, and that there are still many designers who are unable to think in terms of the new material apart from the vestures of timber and structural steel, and whose designs, therefore, are cumbersome and impractical. The writer, however, cannot agree with the author that the practice is as radically wrong as he seems to think. Nor is he entirely in accord with Mr. Godfrey in his "constructive criticism" of those practices in which he concurs, that they are erroneous. That Mr. Godfrey can see no use in vertical stirrups or U-bars is surprising in a practical engineer. One is prompted to ask: "Can the holder of this opinion ever have gone through the experience of placing steel in a job, or at least have watched the operation?" If so, he must have found some use for those little members which he professes to ignore utterly. As a matter of fact, U-bars perform the following very useful and indispensable services: (_1_).--If properly made and placed, they serve as a saddle in which to rest the horizontal steel, thereby insuring the correct placing of the latter during the operation of concreting, not a mean function in a type of construction so essentially practical. To serve this purpose, stirrups should be made as shown in Plate III. They should be restrained in some manner from moving when the concrete strikes them. A very good way of accomplishing this is to string them on a longitudinal rod, nested in the bend at the upper end. Mr. Godfrey, in his advocacy of bowstring bars anchored with washers and nuts at the ends, fails to indicate how they shall be placed. The writer, from experience in placing steel, thinks that it would be very difficult, if not impractical, to place them in this manner; but let a saddle of U-bars be provided, and the problem is easy. (_2_).--Stirrups serve also as a tie, to knit the stem of the beam to its flange--the superimposed slab. The latter, at best, is not too well attached to the stem by the adhesion of the concrete alone, unassisted by the steel. T-beams are used very generally, because their construction has the sanction of common sense, it being impossible to cast stem and slab so that there will be the same strength in the plane at the junction of the two as elsewhere, on account of the certainty of unevenness in settlement, due to the disproportion in their depth. There is also the likelihood that, in spite of specifications to the contrary, there will be a time interval between the pouring of the two parts, and thus a plane of weakness, where, unfortunately, the forces tending to produce sliding of the upper part of the beam on the lower (horizontal shear) are a maximum. To offset this tendency, therefore, it is necessary to have a certain amount of vertical steel, disposed so as to pass around and under the main reinforcing members and reach well up into the flange (the slab), thus getting a grip therein of no mean security. The hooking of the U-bars, as shown in Plate III, affords a very effective grip in the concrete of the slab, and this is still further enhanced by the distributing or anchoring effect of the longitudinal stringing rods. Thus these longitudinals, besides serving to hold the U-bars in position, also increase their effectiveness. They serve a still further purpose as a most convenient support for the slab bars, compelling them to take the correct position over the supports, thus automatically ensuring full and proper provision for reversed stresses. More than that, they act in compression within the middle half, and assist in tension toward the ends of the span. Thus, by using U-bars of the type indicated, in combination with longitudinal bars as described, tying together thoroughly the component parts of the beam in a vertical plane, a marked increase in stiffness, if not strength, is secured. This being the case, who can gainsay the utility of the U-bar? Of course, near the ends, in case continuity of action is realized, whereupon the stresses are reversed, the U-bars need to be inverted, although frequently inversion is not imperative with the type of U-bar described, the simple hooking of the upper ends over the upper horizontal steel being sufficient. As to whether or not the U-bars act with the horizontal and diagonal steel to form truss systems is relatively unessential; in all probability there is some such action, which contributes somewhat to the total strength, but at most it is of minor importance. Mr. Godfrey's points as to fallacy of truss action seem to be well taken, but his conclusions in consequence--that U-bars serve no purpose--are impractical. The number of U-bars needed is also largely a matter of practice, although subject to calculation. Practice indicates that they should be spaced no farther apart than the effective depth of the member, and spaced closer or made heavier toward the ends, in order to keep pace with cumulating shear. They need this close spacing in order to serve as an adequate saddle for the main bars, as well as to furnish, with the lighter "stringing" rods, an adequate support to the slab bars. They should have the requisite stiffness in the bends to carry their burden without appreciable sagging; it will be found that 5/16 in. is about the minimum practical size, and that 1/2 in. is as large as will be necessary, even for very deep beams with heavy reinforcement. If the size and number of U-bars were to be assigned by theory, there should be enough of them to care for fully 75% of the horizontal shear, the adhesion of the concrete being assumed as adequate for the remainder. Near the ends, of course, the inclined steel, resulting from bending up some of the horizontal bars, if it is carried well across the support to secure an adequate anchorage, or other equivalent anchorage is provided, assists in taking the horizontal shear. The embedment, too, of large stone in the body of the beam, straddling, as it were, the neutral plane, and thus forming a lock between the flange and the stem, may be considered as assisting materially in taking horizontal shear, thus relieving the U-bars. This is a factor in the strength of actual work which theory does not take into account, and by the author, no doubt, it would be regarded as insignificant; nevertheless it is being done every day, with excellent results. The action of these various agencies--the U-bars, diagonal steel, and embedded stone--in a concrete beam, is analogous to that of bolts or keys in the case of deepened timber beams. A concrete beam may be assumed, for the purposes of illustration, to be composed of a series of superimposed layers; in this case the function of the rigid material crossing these several layers normally, and being well anchored above and below, as a unifier of the member, is obvious--it acts as so many bolts joining superimposed planks forming a beam. Of course, no such lamination actually exists, although there are always incipient forces tending to produce it; these may and do manifest themselves on occasion as an actual separation in a horizontal plane at the junction of slab and stem, ordinarily the plane of greatest weakness--owing to the method of casting--as well as of maximum horizontal shear. Beams tested to destruction almost invariably develop cracks in this region. The question then naturally arises: If U-bars serve no purpose, what will counteract these horizontal cleaving forces? On the contrary, T-beams, adequately reinforced with U-bars, seem to be safeguarded in this respect; consequently, the U-bars, while perhaps adding little to the strength, as estimated by the ultimate carrying capacity, actually must be of considerable assistance, within the limit of working loads, by enhancing the stiffness and ensuring against incipient cracking along the plane of weakness, such as impact or vibratory loads might induce. Therefore, U-bars, far from being superfluous or fallacious, are, practically, if not theoretically, indispensable. At present there seems to be considerable diversity of opinion as to the exact nature of the stress action in a reinforced concrete beam. Unquestionably, the action in the monolithic members of a concrete structure is different from that in the simple-acting, unrestrained parts of timber or structural steel construction; because in monolithic members, by the law of continuity, reverse stresses must come into play. To offset these stresses reinforcement must be provided, or cracking will ensue where they occur, to the detriment of the structure in appearance, if not in utility. Monolithic concrete construction should be tied together so well across the supports as to make cracking under working loads impossible, and, when tested to destruction, failure should occur by the gradual sagging of the member, like the sagging of an old basket. Then, and then only, can the structure be said to be adequately reinforced. In his advocacy of placing steel to simulate a catenary curve, with end anchorage, the author is more nearly correct than in other issues he makes. Undoubtedly, an attempt should be made in every concrete structure to approximate this alignment. In slabs it may be secured simply by elevating the bars over the supports, when, if pliable enough, they will assume a natural droop which is practically ideal; or, if too stiff, they may be bent to conform approximately to this position. In slabs, too, the reinforcement may be made practically continuous, by using lengths covering several spans, and, where ends occur, by generous lapping. In beams the problem is somewhat more complicated, as it is impossible, except rarely, to bow the steel and to extend it continuously over several supports; but all or part of the horizontal steel can be bent up at about the quarter point, carried across the supports into the adjacent spans, and anchored there by bending it down at about the same angle as it is bent up on the approach, and then hooking the ends. [Illustration: PLATE III.--JUNCTION OF BEAM AND WALL COLUMN. REINFORCEMENT IN PLACE IN BEAM, LINTEL, AND SLAB UP TO BEAM. NOTE END ANCHORAGE OF BEAM BARS.] It is seldom necessary to adopt the scheme proposed by the author, namely, a threaded end with a bearing washer and a nut to hold the washer in place, although it is sometimes expedient, but not absolutely necessary, in end spans, where prolongation into an adjacent span is out of the question. In end spans it is ordinarily sufficient to give the bars a double reverse bend, as shown in Plate III, and possibly to clasp hooks with the horizontal steel. If steel be placed in this manner, the catenary curve will be practically approximated, the steel will be fairly developed throughout its length of embedment, and the structure will be proof against cracking. In this case, also, there is much less dependence on the integrity of the bond; in fact, if there were no bond, the structure would still develop most of its strength, although the deflection under heavy loading might be relatively greater. The writer once had an experience which sustains this point. On peeling off the forms from a beam reinforced according to the method indicated, it was found that, because of the crowding together of the bars in the bottom, coupled with a little too stiff a mixture, the beam had hardly any concrete on the underside to grip the steel in the portion between the points of bending up, or for about the middle half of the member; consequently, it was decided to test this beam. The actual working load was first applied and no deflection, cracking, or slippage of the bars was apparent; but, as the loading was continued, deflection set in and increased rapidly for small increments of loading, a number of fine cracks opened up near the mid-section, which extended to the neutral plane, and the steel slipped just enough, when drawn taut, to destroy what bond there was originally, owing to the contact of the concrete above. At three times the live load, or 450 lb. per sq. ft., the deflection apparently reached a maximum, being about 5/16 in. for a clear distance, between the supports, of 20 ft.; and, as the load was increased to 600 lb. per sq. ft., there was no appreciable increase either in deflection or cracking; whereupon, the owner being satisfied, the loading was discontinued. The load was reduced in amount to three times the working load (450 lb.) and left on over night; the next morning, there being no detectable change, the beam was declared to be sound. When the load was removed the beam recovered all but about 1/8 in. of its deflection, and then repairs were made by attaching light expanded metal to the exposed bars and plastering up to form. Although nearly three years have elapsed, there have been no unfavorable indications, and the owner, no doubt, has eased his mind entirely in regard to the matter. This truly remarkable showing can only be explained by the catenary action of the main steel, and some truss action by the steel which was horizontal, in conjunction with the U-bars, of which there were plenty. As before noted, the clear span was 20 ft., the width of the bay, 8 ft., and the size under the slab (which was 5 in. thick) 8 by 18 in. The reinforcement consisted of three 1-1/8-in. round medium-steel bars, with 3/8-in. U-bars placed the effective depth of the member apart and closer toward the supports, the first two or three being 6 in. apart, the next two or three, 9 in., the next, 12 in., etc., up to a maximum, throughout the mid-section, of 15 in. Each U-bar was provided with a hook at its upper end, as shown in Plate III, and engaged the slab reinforcement, which in this case was expanded metal. Two of the 1-1/8-in. bars were bent up and carried across the support. At the point of bending up, where they passed the single horizontal bar, which was superimposed, a lock-bar was inserted, by which the pressure of the bent-up steel against the concrete, in the region of the bend, was taken up and distributed along the horizontal bar. This feature is also shown in Fig. 14. The bars, after being carried across the support, were inclined into the adjacent span and provided with a liberal, well-rounded hook, furnishing efficient anchorage and provision for reverse stresses. This was at one end only, for--to make matters worse--the other end was a wall bearing; consequently, the benefit of continuity was denied. The bent-up bars were given a double reverse bend, as already described, carrying them around, down, in, and up, and ending finally by clasping them in the hook of the horizontal bar. This apparently stiffened up the free end, for, under the test load, its action was similar to that of the completely restrained end, thus attesting the value of this method of end-fixing. The writer has consistently followed this method of reinforcement, with unvaryingly good results, and believes that, in some measure, it approximates the truth of the situation. Moreover, it is economical, for with the bars bent up over the supports in this manner, and positively anchored, plenty of U-bars being provided, it is possible to remove the forms with entire safety much sooner than with the ordinary methods which are not as well stirruped and only partially tied across the supports. It is also possible to put the structure into use at an earlier date. Failure, too, by the premature removal of the centers, is almost impossible with this method. These considerations more than compensate for the trouble and expense involved in connection with such reinforcement. The writer will not attempt here a theoretical analysis of the stresses incurred in the different parts of this beam, although it might be interesting and instructive. [Illustration: FIG. 14.] The concrete, with the reinforcement disposed as described, may be regarded as reposing on the steel as a saddle, furnishing it with a rigid jacket in which to work, and itself acting only as a stiff floor and a protecting envelope. Bond, in this case, while, of course, an adjunct, is by no means vitally important, as is generally the case with beams unrestrained in any way and in which the reinforcement is not provided with adequate end anchorage, in which case a continuous bond is apparently--at any rate, theoretically--indispensable. An example of the opposite extreme in reinforced concrete design, where provision for reverse stresses was almost wholly lacking, is shown in the Bridgeman Brothers' Building, in Philadelphia, which collapsed while the operation of casting the roof was in progress, in the summer of 1907. The engineering world is fairly familiar with the details of this disaster, as they were noted both in the lay and technical press. In this structure, not only were U-bars almost entirely absent, but the few main bars which were bent up, were stopped short over the support. The result was that the ties between the rib and the slab, and also across the support, being lacking, some of the beams, the forms of which had been removed prematurely, cracked of their own dead weight, and, later, when the roof collapsed, owing to the deficient bracing of the centers, it carried with it each of the four floors to the basement, the beams giving way abruptly over the supports. Had an adequate tie of steel been provided across the supports, the collapse, undoubtedly, would have stopped at the fourth floor. So many faults were apparent in this structure, that, although only half of it had fallen, it was ordered to be entirely demolished and reconstructed. The cracks in the beams, due to the action of the dead weight alone, were most interesting, and illuminative of the action which takes place in a concrete beam. They were in every case on the diagonal, at an angle of approximately 45°, and extended upward and outward from the edge of the support to the bottom side of the slab. Never was the necessity for diagonal steel, crossing this plane of weakness, more emphatically demonstrated. To the writer--an eye-witness--the following line of thought was suggested: Should not the concrete in the region above the supports and for a distance on either side, as encompassed by the opposed 45° lines (Fig. 14), be regarded as abundantly able, of and by itself, and without reinforcing, to convey all its load into the column, leaving only the bending to be considered in the truncated portion intersected? Not even the bending should be considered, except in the case of relatively shallow members, but simply the tendency on the part of the wedge-shaped section to slip out on the 45° planes, thereby requiring sufficient reinforcement at the crossing of these planes of principal weakness to take the component of the load on this portion, tending to shove it out. This reinforcement, of course, should be anchored securely both ways; in mid-span by extending it clear through, forming a suspensory, and, in the other direction, by prolonging it past the supports, the concrete, in this case, along these planes, being assumed to assist partly or not at all. This would seem to be a fair assumption. In all events, beams designed in this manner and checked by comparison with the usual methods of calculation, allowing continuity of action, are found to agree fairly well. Hence, the following statement seems to be warranted: If enough steel is provided, crossing normally or nearly so the 45° planes from the edge of the support upward and outward, to care for the component of the load on the portion included within a pair of these planes, tending to produce sliding along the same, and this steel is adequately anchored both ways, there will be enough reinforcement for every other purpose. In addition, U-bars should be provided for practical reasons. The weak point of beams, and slabs also, fully reinforced for continuity of action, is on the under side adjacent to the edge of the support, where the concrete is in compression. Here, too, the amount of concrete available is small, having no slab to assist it, as is the case within the middle section, where the compression is in the top. Over the supports, for the width of the column, there is abundant strength, for here the steel has a leverage equal to the depth of the column; but at the very edge and for at least one-tenth of the span out, conditions are serious. The usual method of strengthening this region is to subpose brackets, suitably proportioned, to increase the available compressive area to a safe figure, as well as the leverage of the steel, at the same time diminishing the intensity of compression. Brackets, however, are frequently objectionable, and are therefore very generally omitted by careless or ignorant designers, no especial compensation being made for their absence. In Europe, especially in Germany, engineers are much more careful in this respect, brackets being nearly always included. True, if brackets are omitted, some compensation is provided by the strengthening which horizontal bars may give by extending through this region, but sufficient additional compressive resistance is rarely afforded thereby. Perhaps the best way to overcome the difficulty, without resorting to brackets, is to increase the compressive resistance of the concrete, in addition to extending horizontal steel through it. This may be done by hooping or by intermingling scraps of iron or bits of expanded metal with the concrete, thereby greatly increasing its resistance. The experiments made by the Department of Bridges of the City of New York, on the value of nails in concrete, in which results as high as 18,000 lb. per sq. in. were obtained, indicate the availability of this device; the writer has not used it, nor does he know that it has been used, but it seems to be entirely rational, and to offer possibilities. Another practical test, which indicates the value of proper reinforcement, may be mentioned. In a storage warehouse in Canada, the floor was designed, according to the building laws of the town, for a live load of 150 lb. per sq. ft., but the restrictions being more severe than the standard American practice, limiting the lever arm of the steel to 75% of the effective depth, this was about equivalent to a 200-lb. load in the United States. The structure was to be loaded up to 400 or 500 lb. per sq. ft. steadily, but the writer felt so confident of the excess strength provided by his method of reinforcing that he was willing to guarantee the structure, designed for 150 lb., according to the Canadian laws, to be good for the actual working load. Plain, round, medium-steel bars were used. A 10-ft. panel, with a beam of 14-ft. span, and a slab 6 in. thick (not including the top coat), with 1/2-in. round bars, 4 in. on centers, was loaded to 900 lb. per sq. ft., at which load no measurable deflection was apparent. The writer wished to test it still further, but there was not enough cement--the material used for loading. The load, however, was left on for 48 hours, after which, no sign of deflection appearing, not even an incipient crack, it was removed. The total area of loading was 14 by 20 ft. The beam was continuous at one end only, and the slab only on one side. In other parts of the structure conditions were better, square panels being possible, with reinforcement both ways, and with continuity, both of beams and slabs, virtually in every direction, end spans being compensated by shortening. The method of reinforcing was as before indicated. The enormous strength of the structure, as proved by this test, and as further demonstrated by its use for nearly two years, can only be explained on the basis of the continuity of action developed and the great stiffness secured by liberal stirruping. Steel was provided in the middle section according to the rule, (_w_ _l_)/8, the span being taken as the clear distance between the supports; two-thirds of the steel was bent up and carried across the supports, in the case of the beams, and three-fourths of the slab steel was elevated; this, with the lap, really gave, on the average, four-thirds as much steel over the supports as in the center, which, of course, was excessive, but usually an excess has to be tolerated in order to allow for adequate anchorage. Brackets were not used, but extra horizontal reinforcement, in addition to the regular horizontal steel, was laid in the bottom across the supports, which, seemingly, was satisfactory. The columns, it should be added, were calculated for a very low value, something like 350 lb. per sq. in., in order to compensate for the excess of actual live load over and above the calculated load. This piece of work was done during the winter, with the temperature almost constantly at +10° and dropping below zero over night. The precautions observed were to heat the sand and water, thaw out the concrete with live steam, if it froze in transporting or before it was settled in place, and as soon as it was placed, it was decked over and salamanders were started underneath. Thus, a job equal in every respect to warm-weather installation was obtained, it being possible to remove the forms in a fortnight. [Illustration: PLATE IV, FIG. 1.--SLAB AND BEAM REINFORCEMENT CONTINUOUS OVER SUPPORTS. SPAN OF BEAMS = 14 FT. SPAN OF SLABS = 12 FT. SLAB, 6 IN. THICK.] [Illustration: PLATE IV, FIG. 2.--REINFORCEMENT IN PLACE OVER ONE COMPLETE FLOOR OF STORAGE WAREHOUSE. SLABS, 14 FT. SQUARE. REINFORCED TWO WAYS. NOTE CONTINUITY OF REINFORCEMENT AND ELEVATION OVER SUPPORTS. FLOOR DESIGNED FOR 150 LB. PER SQ. FT. LIVE LOAD. TESTED TO 900 LB. PER SQ. FT.] In another part of this job (the factory annex) where, owing to the open nature of the structure, it was impossible to house it in as well as the warehouse which had bearing walls to curtain off the sides, less fortunate results were obtained. A temperature drop over night of nearly 50°, followed by a spell of alternate freezing and thawing, effected the ruin of at least the upper 2 in. of a 6-in. slab spanning 12 ft. (which was reinforced with 1/2-in. round bars, 4 in. on centers), and the remaining 4 in. was by no means of the best quality. It was thought that this particular bay would have to be replaced. Before deciding, however, a test was arranged, supports being provided underneath to prevent absolute failure. But as the load was piled up, to the extent of nearly 400 lb. per sq. ft., there was no sign of giving (over this span) other than an insignificant deflection of less than 1/4 in., which disappeared on removing the load. This slab still performs its share of the duty, without visible defect, hence it must be safe. The question naturally arises: if 4 in. of inferior concrete could make this showing, what must have been the value of the 6 in. of good concrete in the other slabs? The reinforcing in the slab, it should be stated, was continuous over several supports, was proportioned for (_w_ _l_)/8 for the clear span (about 11 ft.), and three-fourths of it was raised over the supports. This shows the value of the continuous method of reinforcing, and the enormous excess of strength in concrete structures, as proportioned by existing methods, when the reverse stresses are provided for fully and properly, though building codes may make no concession therefor. Another point may be raised, although the author has not mentioned it, namely, the absurdity of the stresses commonly considered as occurring in tensile steel, 16,000 lb. per sq. in. for medium steel being used almost everywhere, while some zealots, using steel with a high elastic limit, are advocating stresses up to 22,000 lb. and more; even the National Association of Cement Users has adopted a report of the Committee on Reinforced Concrete, which includes a clause recommending the use of 20,000 lb. on high steel. As theory indicates, and as F.E. Turneaure, Assoc. M. Am. Soc. C. E., of the University of Wisconsin, has proven by experiment, failure of the concrete encircling the steel under tension occurs when the stress in the steel is about 5,000 lb. per sq. in. It is evident, therefore, that if a stress of even 16,000 lb. were actually developed, not to speak of 20,000 lb. or more, the concrete would be so replete with minute cracks on the tension side as to expose the embedded metal in innumerable places. Such cracks do not occur in work because, under ordinary working loads, the concrete is able to carry the load so well, by arch and dome action, as to require very little assistance from the steel, which, consequently, is never stressed to a point where cracking of the concrete will be induced. This being the case, why not recognize it, modify methods of design, and not go on assuming stresses which have no real existence? The point made by Mr. Godfrey in regard to the fallacy of sharp bends is patent, and must meet with the agreement of all who pause to think of the action really occurring. This is also true of his points as to the width of the stem of T-beams, and the spacing of bars in the same. As to elastic arches, the writer is not sufficiently versed in designs of this class to express an opinion, but he agrees entirely with the author in his criticism of retaining-wall design. What the author proposes is rational, and it is hard to see how the problem could logically be analyzed otherwise. His point about chimneys, however, is not as clear. As to columns, the writer agrees with Mr. Godfrey in many, but not in all, of his points. Certainly, the fallacy of counting on vertical steel to carry load, in addition to the concrete, has been abundantly shown. The writer believes that the sole legitimate function of vertical steel, as ordinarily used, is to reinforce the member against flexure, and that its very presence in the column, unless well tied across by loops of steel at frequent intervals, so far from increasing the direct carrying capacity, is a source of weakness. However, the case is different when a large amount of rigid vertical steel is used; then the steel may be assumed to carry all the load, at the value customary in structural steel practice, the concrete being considered only in the light of fire-proofing and as affording lateral support to the steel, increasing its effective radius of gyration and thus its safe carrying capacity. In any event the load should be assumed to be carried either by the concrete or by the steel, and, if by the former, the longitudinal and transverse steel which is introduced should be regarded as auxiliary only. Vertical steel, if not counted in the strength, however, may on occasion serve a very useful practical purpose; for instance, the writer once had a job where, owing to the collection of ice and snow on a floor, which melted when the salamanders were started, the lower ends of several of the superimposed columns were eaten away, with the result that when the forms were withdrawn, these columns were found to be standing on stilts. Only four 1-in. bars were present, looped at intervals of about 1 ft., in a column 12 ft. in length and having a girth of 14 in., yet they were adequate to carry both the load of the floor above and the load incidental to construction. If no such reinforcement had been provided, however, failure would have been inevitable. Thus, again, it is shown that, where theory and experiment may fail to justify certain practices, actual experience does, and emphatically. Mr. Godfrey is absolutely right in his indictment of hooping as usually done, for hoops can serve no purpose until the concrete contained therein is stressed to incipient rupture; then they will begin to act, to furnish restraint which will postpone ultimate failure. Mr. Godfrey states that, in his opinion, the lamina of concrete between each hoop is not assisted; but, as a matter of fact, practically regarded, it is, the coarse particles of the aggregate bridging across from hoop to hoop; and if--as is the practice of some--considerable longitudinal steel is also used, and the hoops are very heavy, so that when the bridging action of the concrete is taken into account, there is in effect a very considerable restraining of the concrete core, and the safe carrying capacity of the column is undoubtedly increased. However, in the latter case, it would be more logical to consider that the vertical steel carried all the load, and that the concrete core, with the hoops, simply constituted its rigidity and the medium of getting the load into the same, ignoring, in this event, the direct resistance of the concrete. What seems to the writer to be the most logical method of reinforcing concrete columns remains to be developed; it follows along the lines of supplying tensile resistance to the mass here and there throughout, thus creating a condition of homogeneity of strength. It is precisely the method indicated by the experiments already noted, made by the Department of Bridges of the City of New York, whereby the compressive resistance of concrete was enormously increased by intermingling wire nails with it. Of course, it is manifestly out of the question, practically and economically, to reinforce column concrete in this manner, but no doubt a practical and an economical method will be developed which will serve the same purpose. The writer knows of one prominent reinforced concrete engineer, of acknowledged judgment, who has applied for a patent in which expanded metal is used to effect this very purpose; how well this method will succeed remains to be seen. At any rate, reinforcement of this description seems to be entirely rational, which is more than can be said for most of the current standard types. Mr. Godfrey's sixteenth point, as to the action in square panels, seems also to the writer to be well taken; he recollects analyzing Mr. Godfrey's narrow-strip method at the time it appeared in print, and found it rational, and he has since had the pleasure of observing actual tests which sustained this view. Reinforcement can only be efficient in two ways, if the span both ways is the same or nearly so; a very little difference tends to throw the bulk of the load the short way, for stresses know only one law, namely, to follow the shortest line. In square panels the maximum bending comes on the mid-strips; those adjacent to the margin beams have very little bending parallel to the beam, practically all the action being the other way; and there are all gradations between. The reinforcing, therefore, should be spaced the minimum distance only in the mid-region, and from there on constantly widened, until, at about the quarter point, practically none is necessary, the slab arching across on the diagonal from beam to beam. The practice of spacing the bars at the minimum distance throughout is common, extending the bars to the very edge of the beams. In this case about half the steel is simply wasted. In conclusion, the writer wishes to thank Mr. Godfrey for his very able paper, which to him has been exceedingly illuminative and fully appreciated, even though he has been obliged to differ from its contentions in some respects. On the other hand, perhaps, the writer is wrong and Mr. Godfrey right; in any event, if, through the medium of this contribution to the discussion, the writer has assisted in emphasizing a few of the fundamental truths; or if, in his points of non-concordance, he is in coincidence with the views of a sufficient number of engineers to convince Mr. Godfrey of any mistaken stands; or, finally, if he has added anything new to the discussion which may help along the solution, he will feel amply repaid for his time and labor. The least that can be said is that reform all along the line, in matters of reinforced concrete design, is insistent. JOHN STEPHEN SEWELL, M. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--The author is rather severe on the state of the art of designing reinforced concrete. It appears to the writer that, to a part of the indictment, at least, a plea of not guilty may properly be entered; and that some of the other charges may not be crimes, after all. There is still room for a wide difference of opinion on many points involved in the design of reinforced concrete, and too much zeal for conviction, combined with such skill in special pleading as this paper exhibits, may possibly serve to obscure the truth, rather than to bring it out clearly. _Point 1._--This is one to which the proper plea is "not guilty." The writer does not remember ever to have seen just the type of construction shown in Fig. 1, either used or recommended. The angle at which the bars are bent up is rarely as great as 45°, much less 60 degrees. The writer has never heard of "sharp bends" being insisted on, and has never seen them used; it is simply recommended or required that some of the bars be bent up and, in practice, the bend is always a gentle one. The stress to be carried by the concrete as a queen-post is never as great as that assumed by the author, and, in practice, the queen-post has a much greater bearing on the bars than is indicated in Fig. 1. _Point 2._--The writer, in a rather extensive experience, has never seen this point exemplified. _Point 3._--It is probable that as far as Point 3 relates to retaining walls, it touches a weak spot sometimes seen in actual practice, but necessity for adequate anchorage is discussed at great length in accepted literature, and the fault should be charged to the individual designer, for correct information has been within his reach for at least ten years. _Point 4._--In this case it would seem that the author has put a wrong interpretation on what is generally meant by shear. However, it is undoubtedly true that actual shear in reinforcing steel is sometimes figured and relied on. Under some conditions it is good practice, and under others it is not. Transverse rods, properly placed, can surely act in transmitting stress from the stem to the flange of a T-beam, and could properly be so used. There are other conditions under which the concrete may hold the rods so rigidly that their shearing strength may be utilized; where such conditions do not obtain, it is not ordinarily necessary to count on the shearing strength of the rods. _Point 5._--Even if vertical stirrups do not act until the concrete has cracked, they are still desirable, as insuring a gradual failure and, generally, greater ultimate carrying capacity. It would seem that the point where their full strength should be developed is rather at the neutral axis than at the centroid of compression stresses. As they are usually quite light, this generally enables them to secure the requisite anchorage in the compressed part of the concrete. Applied to a riveted truss, the author's reasoning would require that all the rivets by which web members are attached to the top chord should be above the center of gravity of the chord section. _Point 6._--There are many engineers who, accepting the common theory of diagonal tension and compression in a solid beam, believe that, in a reinforced concrete beam with stirrups, the concrete can carry the diagonal compression, and the stirrups the tension. If these web stresses are adequately cared for, shear can be neglected. The writer cannot escape the conclusion that tests which have been made support the above belief. He believes that stirrups should be inclined at an angle of 45° or less, and that they should be fastened rigidly to the horizontal bars; but that is merely the most efficient way to use them--not the only way to secure the desired action, at least, in some degree. The author's proposed method of bending up some of the main bars is good, but he should not overlook the fact that he is taking them away from the bottom of the beam just as surely as in the case of a sharp bend, and this is one of his objections to the ordinary method of bending them up. Moreover, with long spans and varying distances of the load, the curve which he adopts for his bars cannot possibly be always the true equilibrium curve. His concrete must then act as a stiffening truss, and will almost inevitably crack before his cable can come into action as such. Bulletin No. 29 of the University of Illinois contains nothing to indicate that the bars bent up in the tests reported were bent up in any other than the ordinary way; certainly they could not be considered as equivalent to the cables of a suspension bridge. These beams behaved pretty well, but the loads were applied so as to make them practically queen-post trusses, symmetrically loaded. While the bends in the bars were apparently not very sharp, and the angle of inclination was much less than 60°, or even 45°, it is not easy to find adequate bearings for the concrete posts on theoretical grounds, yet it is evident that the bearing was there just the same. The last four beams of the series, 521-1, 521-2, 521-5, 521-6, were about as nearly like Fig. 1 as anything the writer has ever seen in actual practice, yet they seem to have been the best of all. To be sure, the ends of the bent-up bars had a rather better anchorage, but they seem to have managed the shear question pretty much according to the expectation of their designer, and it is almost certain that the latter's assumptions would come under some part of the author's general indictment. These beams would seem to justify the art in certain practices condemned by the author. Perhaps he overlooked them. _Point 7._--The writer does not believe that the "general" practice as to continuity is on the basis charged. In fact, the general practice seems to him to be rather in the reverse direction. Personally, the writer believes in accepting continuity and designing for it, with moments at both center and supports equal to two-thirds of the center movement for a single span, uniformly loaded. He believes that the design of reinforced concrete should not be placed on the same footing as that of structural steel, because there is a fundamental difference, calling for different treatment. The basis should be sound, in both cases; but what is sound for one is not necessarily so for the other. In the author's plan for a series of spans designed as simple beams, with a reasonable amount of top reinforcement, he might get excessive stress and cracks in the concrete entirely outside of the supports. The shear would then become a serious matter, but no doubt the direct reinforcement would come into play as a suspension bridge, with further cracking of the concrete as a necessary preliminary. Unfortunately, the writer is unable to refer to records, but he is quite sure that, in the early days, the rivets and bolts in the upper part of steel and iron bridge stringer connections gave some trouble by failing in tension due to continuous action, where the stringers were of moderate depth compared to the span. Possibly some members of the Society may know of such instances. The writer's instructors in structural design warned him against shallow stringers on that account, and told him that such things had happened. Is it certain that structural steel design is on such a sound basis after all? Recent experiences seem to cast some doubt on it, and we may yet discover that we have escaped trouble, especially in buildings, because we almost invariably provide for loads much greater than are ever actually applied, and not because our knowledge and practice are especially exact. _Point 8._--The writer believes that this point is well taken, as to a great deal of current practice; but, if the author's ideas are carried out, reinforced concrete will be limited to a narrow field of usefulness, because of weight and cost. With attached web members, the writer believes that steel can be concentrated in heavy members in a way that is not safe with plain bars, and that, in this way, much greater latitude of design may be safely allowed. _Point 9._--The writer is largely in accord with the author's ideas on the subject of T-beams, but thinks he must have overlooked a very careful and able analysis of this kind of member, made by A.L. Johnson, M. Am. Soc. C. E., a number of years ago. While too much of the floor slab is still counted on for flange duty, it seems to the writer that, within the last few years, practice has greatly improved in this respect. _Point 10._--The author's statement regarding the beam and slab formulas in common use is well grounded. The modulus of elasticity of concrete is so variable that any formulas containing it and pretending to determine the stress in the concrete are unreliable, but the author's proposed method is equally so. We can determine by experiment limiting percentages of steel which a concrete of given quality can safely carry as reinforcement, and then use empirical formulas based on the stress in the steel and an assumed percentage of its depth in the concrete as a lever arm with more ease and just as much accuracy. The common methods result in designs which are safe enough, but they pretend to determine the stress in concrete; the writer does not believe that that is possible within 30% of the truth, and can see no profit in making laborious calculations leading to such unreliable results. _Point 11._--The writer has never designed a reinforced concrete chimney, but if he ever has to do so, he will surely not use any formula that is dependent on the modulus of elasticity of concrete. _Points 12, 13, and 14._--The writer has never had to consider these points to any extent in his own work, and will leave discussion to those better qualified. _Point 15._--There is much questionable practice in regard to reinforced concrete columns; but the matter is hardly disposed of as easily as indicated by the author. Other engineers draw different conclusions from the tests cited by the author, and from some to which he does not refer. To the writer it appears that here is a problem still awaiting solution on a really satisfactory basis. It seems incredible that the author would use plain concrete in columns, yet that seems to be the inference. The tests seem to indicate that there is much merit in both hooping and longitudinal reinforcement, if properly designed; that the fire-resisting covering should not be integral with the columns proper; that the high results obtained by M. Considère in testing small specimens cannot be depended on in practice, but that the reinforcement is of great value, nevertheless. The writer believes that when load-carrying capacity, stresses due to eccentricity, and fire-resisting qualities are all given due consideration, a type of column with close hooping and longitudinal reinforcement provided with shear members, will finally be developed, which will more than justify itself. _Point 16_.--The writer has not gone as deeply into this question, from a theoretical point of view, as he would like; but he has had one experience that is pertinent. Some years ago, he built a plain slab floor supported by brick walls. The span was about 16 ft. The dimensions of the slab at right angles to the reinforcement was 100 ft. or more. Plain round bars, 1/2 in. in diameter, were run at right angles to the reinforcement about 2 ft. on centers, the object being to lessen cracks. The reinforcement consisted of Kahn bars, reaching from wall to wall. The rounds were laid on top of the Kahn bars. The concrete was frozen and undeniably damaged, but the floors stood up, without noticeable deflection, after the removal of the forms. The concrete was so soft, however, that a test was decided on. An area about 4 ft. wide, and extending to within about 1 ft. of each bearing wall, was loaded with bricks piled in small piers not in contact with each other, so as to constitute practically a uniformly distributed load. When the total load amounted to much less than the desired working load for the 4-ft. strip, considerable deflection had developed. As the load increased, the deflection increased, and extended for probably 15 or 20 ft. on either side of the loaded area. Finally, under about three-fourths of the desired breaking load for the 4-ft. strip, it became evident that collapse would soon occur. The load was left undisturbed and, in 3 or 4 min., an area about 16 ft. square tore loose from the remainder of the floor and fell. The first noticeable deflection in the above test extended for 8 or 10 ft. on either side of the loaded strip. It would seem that this test indicated considerable distributing power in the round rods, although they were not counted as reinforcement for load-carrying purposes at all. The concrete was extremely poor, and none of the steel was stressed beyond the elastic limit. While this test may not justify the designer in using lighter reinforcement for the short way of the slab, it at least indicates a very real value for some reinforcement in the other direction. It would seem to indicate, also, that light steel members in a concrete slab might resist a small amount of shear. The slab in this case was about 6 in. thick. SANFORD E. THOMPSON, M. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--Mr. Godfrey's sweeping condemnation of reinforced concrete columns, referred to in his fifteenth point, should not be passed over without serious criticism. The columns in a building, as he states, are the most vital portion of the structure, and for this very reason their design should be governed by theoretical and practical considerations based on the most comprehensive tests available. The quotation by Mr. Godfrey from a writer on hooped columns is certainly more radical than is endorsed by conservative engineers, but the best practice in column reinforcement, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Concrete and Reinforced Concrete, which assumes that the longitudinal bars assist in taking stress in accordance with the ratio of elasticity of steel to concrete, and that the hooping serves to increase the toughness of the column, is founded on the most substantial basis of theory and test. In preparing the second edition of "Concrete, Plain and Reinforced," the writer examined critically the various tests of concrete columns in order to establish a definite basis for his conclusions. Referring more particularly to columns reinforced with vertical steel bars, an examination of all the tests of full-sized columns made in the United States appears to bear out the fact very clearly that longitudinal steel bars embedded in concrete increase the strength of the column, and, further, to confirm the theory by which the strength of the combination of steel and concrete may be computed and is computed in practice. Tests of large columns have been made at the Watertown Arsenal, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois, by the City of Minneapolis, and at the University of Wisconsin. The results of these various tests were recently summarized by the writer in a paper presented at the January, 1910, meeting of the National Association of Cement Users[O]. Reference may be made to this paper for fuller particulars, but the averages of the tests of each series are worth repeating here. In comparing the averages of reinforced columns, specimens with spiral or other hooping designed to increase the strength, or with horizontal reinforcement placed so closely together as to prevent proper placing of the concrete, are omitted. For the Watertown Arsenal tests the averages given are made up from fair representative tests on selected proportions of concrete, given in detail in the paper referred to, while in other cases all the corresponding specimens of the two types are averaged. The results are given in Table 1. The comparison of these tests must be made, of course, independently in each series, because the materials and proportions of the concrete and the amounts of reinforcement are different in the different series. The averages are given simply to bring out the point, very definitely and distinctly, that longitudinally reinforced columns are stronger than columns of plain concrete. A more careful analysis of the tests shows that the reinforced columns are not only stronger, but that the increase in strength due to the reinforcement averages greater than the ordinary theory, using a ratio of elasticity of 15, would predicate. Certain of the results given are diametrically opposed to Mr. Godfrey's conclusions from the same sets of tests. Reference is made by him, for example (page 69), to a plain column tested at the University of Illinois, which crushed at 2,001 lb. per sq. in., while a reinforced column of similar size crushed at 1,557 lb. per sq. in.,[P] and the author suggests that "This is not an isolated case, but appears to be the rule." Examination of this series of tests shows that it is somewhat more erratic than most of those made at the University of Illinois, but, even from the table referred to by Mr. Godfrey, pursuing his method of reasoning, the reverse conclusion might be reached, for if, instead of selecting, as he has done, the weakest reinforced column in the entire lot and the strongest plain column, a reverse selection had been made, the strength of the plain column would have been stated as 1,079 lb. per sq. in. and that of the reinforced column as 3,335 lb. per sq. in. If extremes are to be selected at all, the weakest reinforced column should be compared with the weakest plain column, and the strongest reinforced column with the strongest plain column; and the results would show that while an occasional reinforced column may be low in strength, an occasional plain column will be still lower, so that the reinforcement, even by this comparison, is of marked advantage in increasing strength. In such cases, however, comparisons should be made by averages. The average strength of the reinforced columns, even in this series, as given in Table 1, is considerably higher than that of the plain columns. TABLE 1.--AVERAGE RESULTS OF TESTS OF PLAIN _vs._ LONGITUDINALLY REINFORCED COLUMNS. --------------+--------+--------------+--------------------------------- | | Average | |Average | strength of | Location |strength|longitudinally| Reference. of test. |of plain| reinforced | |columns.| columns. | --------------+--------+--------------+--------------------------------- Watertown | 1,781 | 2,992 |Taylor and Thompson's Arsenal. | | |"Concrete, Plain and Reinforced" | | |(2nd edition), p. 493. --------------+--------+--------------+--------------------------------- Massachusetts| 1,750 | 2,370 |_Transactions_, Institute of | | |Am. Soc. C. E., Vol. L, p. 487. Technology. | | | --------------+--------+--------------+--------------------------------- University of| 1,550 | 1,750 |_Bulletin No. 10._ Illinois. | | |University of Illinois, 1907. --------------+--------+--------------+--------------------------------- City of | 2,020 | 2,300 |_Engineering News_, Minneapolis.| | |Dec. 3d, 1908, p. 608. --------------+--------+--------------+--------------------------------- University of| 2,033 | 2,438 |_Proceedings_, Wisconsin. | | |Am. Soc. for Testing Materials, | | |Vol. IX, 1909, p. 477. --------------+--------+--------------+--------------------------------- In referring, in the next paragraph, to Mr. Withey's tests at the University of Wisconsin, Mr. Godfrey selects for his comparison two groups of concrete which are not comparable. Mr. Withey, in the paper describing the tests, refers to two groups of plain concrete columns, _A1_ to _A4_, and _W1_ to _W3_. He speaks of the uniformity in the tests of the former group, the maximum variation in the four specimens being only 2%, but states, with reference to columns, _W1_ to _W3_, that: "As these 3 columns were made of a concrete much superior to that in any of the other columns made from 1:2:4 or 1:2:3-1/2 mix, they cannot satisfactorily be compared with them. Failures of all plain columns were sudden and without any warning." Now, Mr. Godfrey, instead of taking columns _A1_ to _A3_, selects for his comparison _W1_ to _W3_, made, as Mr. Withey distinctly states, with an especially superior concrete. Taking columns, _A1_ to _A3_, for comparison with the reinforced columns, _E1_ to _E3_, the result shows an average of 2,033 for the plain columns and 2,438 for the reinforced columns. Again, taking the third series of tests referred to by Mr. Godfrey, those at Minneapolis, Minn., it is to be noticed that he selects for his criticism a column which has this note as to the manner of failure: "Bending at center (bad batch of concrete at this point)." Furthermore, the column is only 9 by 9 in., and square, and the stress referred to is calculated on the full section of the column instead of on the strength within the hooping, although the latter method is the general practice in a hooped column. The inaccuracy of this is shown by the fact that, with this small size of square column, more than half the area is outside the hooping and never taken into account in theoretical computations. A fair comparison, as far as longitudinal reinforcement is concerned, is always between the two plain columns and the six columns, _E_, _D_, and _F_. The results are so instructive that a letter[Q] by the writer is quoted in full as follows: "SIR:-- "In view of the fact that the column tests at Minneapolis, as reported in your paper of December 3, 1908, p. 608, are liable because of the small size of the specimens to lead to divergent conclusions, a few remarks with reference to them may not be out of place at this time. "1. It is evident that the columns were all smaller, being only 9 in. square, than is considered good practice in practical construction, because of the difficulty of properly placing the concrete around the reinforcement. "2. The tests of columns with flat bands, _A_, _B_, and _C_, in comparison with the columns _E_, _D_ and _F_, indicate that the wide bands affected the placing of the concrete, separating the internal core from the outside shell so that it would have been nearly as accurate to base the strength upon the material within the bands, that is, upon a section of 38 sq. in., instead of upon the total area of 81 sq. in. This set of tests, _A_, _B_ and _C_, is therefore inconclusive except as showing the practical difficulty in the use of bands in small columns, and the necessity for disregarding all concrete outside of the bands when computing the strength. "3. The six columns _E_, _D_ and _F_, each of which contained eight 5/8-in. rods, are the only ones which are a fair test of columns longitudinally reinforced, since they are the only specimens except the plain columns in which the small sectional area was not cut by bands or hoops. Taking these columns, we find an average strength 38% in excess of the plain columns, whereas, with the percentage of reinforcement used, the ordinary formula for vertical steel (using a ratio of elasticity of steel to concrete of 15) gives 34% as the increase which might be expected. In other words, the actual strength of this set of columns was in excess of the theoretical strength. The wire bands on these columns could not be considered even by the advocates of hooped columns as appreciably adding to the strength, because they were square instead of circular. It may be noted further in connection with these longitudinally reinforced columns that the results were very uniform and, further, that the strength of _every specimen_ was much greater than the strength of the plain columns, being in every case except one at least 40% greater. In these columns the rods buckled between the bands, but they evidently did not do so until their elastic limit was passed, at which time of course they would be expected to fail. "4. With reference to columns, _A_, _B_, _C_ and _L_, which were essentially hooped columns, the failure appears to have been caused by the greater deformation which is always found in hooped columns, and which in the earlier stages of the loading is apparently due to lack of homogeneity caused by the difficulty in placing the concrete around the hooping, and in the later stage of the loading to the excessive expansion of the concrete. This greater deformation in a hooped column causes any vertical steel to pass its elastic limit at an earlier stage than in a column where the deformation is less, and therefore produces the buckling between the bands which is noted in these two sets of columns. This excessive deformation is a strong argument against the use of high working stresses in hooped columns. "In conclusion, then, it may be said that the columns reinforced with vertical round rods showed all the strength that would be expected of them by theoretical computation. The hooped columns, on the other hand, that is, the columns reinforced with circular bands and hoops, gave in all cases comparatively low results, but no conclusions can be drawn from them because the unit-strength would have been greatly increased if the columns had been larger so that the relative area of the internal core to the total area of the column had been greater." From this letter, it will be seen that every one of Mr. Godfrey's comparisons of plain _versus_ reinforced columns requires explanations which decidedly reduce, if they do not entirely destroy, the force of his criticism. This discussion can scarcely be considered complete without brief reference to the theory of longitudinal steel reinforcement for columns. The principle[R] is comparatively simple. When a load is placed on a column of any material it is shortened in proportion, within working limits, to the load placed upon it; that is, with a column of homogeneous material, if the load is doubled, the amount of shortening or deformation is also doubled. If vertical steel bars are embedded in concrete, they must shorten when the load is applied, and consequently relieve the concrete of a portion of its load. It is therefore physically impossible to prevent such vertical steel from taking a portion of the load unless the steel slips or buckles. As to the possible danger of the bars in the concrete slipping or buckling, to which Mr. Godfrey also refers, again must tests be cited. If the ends are securely held--and this is always the case when bars are properly butted or are lapped for a sufficient length--they cannot slip. With reference to buckling, tests have proved conclusively that vertical bars such as are used in columns, when embedded in concrete, will not buckle until the elastic limit of the steel is reached, or until the concrete actually crushes. Beyond these points, of course, neither steel nor concrete nor any other material is expected to do service. As proof of this statement, it will be seen, by reference to tests at the Watertown Arsenal, as recorded in "Tests of Metals," that many of the columns were made with vertical bar reinforcement having absolutely no hoops or horizontal steel placed around them. That is, the bars, 8 ft. long, were placed in the four corners of the column--in some tests only 2 in. from the surface--and held in place simply by the concrete itself.[S] There was no sign whatever of buckling until the compression was so great that the elastic limit of the steel was passed, when, of course, no further strength could be expected from it. To recapitulate the conclusions reached as a result of a study of the tests: It is evident that, not only does theory permit the use of longitudinal bar reinforcement for increasing the strength of concrete columns, whenever such reinforcement is considered advisable, but that all the important series of column tests made in the United States to date show a decisive increase in strength of columns reinforced with longitudinal steel bars over those which are not reinforced. Furthermore, as has already been mentioned, without treating the details of the proof, it can be shown that the tests bear out conclusively the conservatism of computing the value of the vertical steel bars in compression by the ordinary formulas based on the ratio of the moduli of elasticity of steel to concrete. EDWARD GODFREY, M. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--As was to be expected, this paper has brought out discussion, some of which is favorable and flattering; some is in the nature of dust-throwing to obscure the force of the points made; some would attempt to belittle the importance of these points; and some simply brings out the old and over-worked argument which can be paraphrased about as follows: "The structures stand up and perform their duty, is this not enough?" The last-mentioned argument is as old as Engineering; it is the "practical man's" mainstay, his "unanswerable argument." The so-called practical man will construct a building, and test it either with loads or by practical use. Then he will modify the design somewhere, and the resulting construction will be tested. If it passes through this modifying process and still does service, he has something which, in his mind, is unassailable. Imagine the freaks which would be erected in the iron bridge line, if the capacity to stand up were all the designer had to guide him, analysis of stresses being unknown. Tests are essential, but analysis is just as essential. The fact that a structure carries the bare load for which it is computed, is in no sense a test of its correct design; it is not even a test of its safety. In Pittsburg, some years ago, a plate-girder span collapsed under the weight of a locomotive which it had carried many times. This bridge was, perhaps, thirty years old. Some reinforced concrete bridges have failed under loads which they have carried many times. Others have fallen under no extraneous load, and after being in service many months. If a large number of the columns of a structure fall shortly after the forms are removed, what is the factor of safety of the remainder, which are identical, but have not quite reached their limit of strength? Or what is the factor of safety of columns in other buildings in which the concrete was a little better or the forms have been left in a little longer, both sets of columns being similarly designed? There are highway bridges of moderately long spans standing and doing service, which have 2-in. chord pins; laterals attached to swinging floor-beams in such a way that they could not possibly receive their full stress; eye-bars with welded-on heads; and many other equally absurd and foolish details, some of which were no doubt patented in their day. Would any engineer with any knowledge whatever of bridge design accept such details? They often stand the test of actual service for years; in pins, particularly, the calculated stress is sometimes very great. These details do not stand the test of analysis and of common sense, and, therefore, no reputable engineer would accept them. Mr. Turner, in the first and second paragraphs of his discussion, would convey the impression that the writer was in doubt as to his "personal opinions" and wanted some free advice. He intimates that he is too busy to go fully into a treatise in order to set them right. He further tries to throw discredit on the paper by saying that the writer has adduced no clean-cut statement of fact or tests in support of his views. If Mr. Turner had read the paper carefully, he would not have had the idea that in it the hooped column is condemned. As to this more will be said later. The paper is simply and solely a collection of statements of facts and tests, whereas his discussion teems with his "personal opinion," and such statements as "These values * * * are regarded by the writer as having at least double the factor of safety used in ordinary designs of structural steel"; "On a basis not far from that which the writer considers reasonable practice." Do these sound like clean-cut statements of fact, or are they personal opinions? It is a fact, pure and simple, that a sharp bend in a reinforcing rod in concrete violates the simplest principles of mechanics; also that the queen-post and Pratt and Howe truss analogies applied to reinforcing steel in concrete are fallacies; that a few inches of embedment will not anchor a rod for its value; that concrete shrinks in setting in air and puts initial stress in both the concrete and the steel, making assumed unstressed initial conditions non-existent. It is a fact that longitudinal rods alone cannot be relied on to reinforce a concrete column. Contrary to Mr. Turner's statement, tests have been adduced to demonstrate this fact. Further, it is a fact that the faults and errors in reinforced concrete design to which attention is called, are very common in current design, and are held up as models in nearly all books on the subject. The writer has not asked any one to believe a single thing because he thinks it is so, or to change a single feature of design because in his judgment that feature is faulty. The facts given are exemplifications of elementary mechanical principles overlooked by other writers, just as early bridge designers and writers on bridge design overlooked the importance of calculating bridge pins and other details which would carry the stress of the members. A careful reading of the paper will show that the writer does not accept the opinions of others, when they are not backed by sound reason, and does not urge his own opinion. Instead of being a statement of personal opinion for which confirmation is desired, the paper is a simple statement of facts and tests which demonstrate the error of practices exhibited in a large majority of reinforced concrete work and held up in the literature on the subject as examples to follow. Mr. Turner has made no attempt to deny or refute any one of these facts, but he speaks of the burden of proof resting on the writer. Further, he makes statements which show that he fails entirely to understand the facts given or to grasp their meaning. He says that the writer's idea is "that the entire pull of the main reinforcing rod should be taken up apparently at the end." He adds that the soundness of this position may be questioned, because, in slabs, the steel frequently breaks at the center. Compare this with the writer's statement, as follows: "In shallow beams there is little need of provision for taking shear by any other means than the concrete itself. The writer has seen a reinforced slab support a very heavy load by simple friction, for the slab was cracked close to the supports. In slabs, shear is seldom provided for in the steel reinforcement. It is only when beams begin to have a depth approximating one-tenth of the span that the shear in the concrete becomes excessive and provision is necessary in the steel reinforcement. Years ago, the writer recommended that, in such beams, some of the rods be curved up toward the ends of the span and anchored over the support." It is solely in providing for shear that the steel reinforcement should be anchored for its full value over the support. The shear must ultimately reach the support, and that part which the concrete is not capable of carrying should be taken to it solely by the steel, as far as tensile and shear stresses are concerned. It should not be thrown back on the concrete again, as a system of stirrups must necessarily do. The following is another loose assertion by Mr. Turner: "Mr. Godfrey appears to consider that the hooping and vertical reinforcement of columns is of little value. He, however, presents for consideration nothing but his opinion of the matter, which appears to be based on an almost total lack of familiarity with such construction." There is no excuse for statements like this. If Mr. Turner did not read the paper, he should not have attempted to criticize it. What the writer presented for consideration was more than his opinion of the matter. In fact, no opinion at all was presented. What was presented was tests which prove absolutely that longitudinal rods without hoops may actually reduce the strength of a column, and that a column containing longitudinal rods and "hoops which are not close enough to stiffen the rods" may be of less strength than a plain concrete column. A properly hooped column was not mentioned, except by inference, in the quotation given in the foregoing sentence. The column tests which Mr. Turner presents have no bearing whatever on the paper, for they relate to columns with bands and close spirals. Columns are sometimes built like these, but there is a vast amount of work in which hooping and bands are omitted or are reduced to a practical nullity by being spaced a foot or so apart. A steel column made up of several pieces latticed together derives a large part of its stiffness and ability to carry compressive stresses from the latticing, which should be of a strength commensurate with the size of the column. If it were weak, the column would suffer in strength. The latticing might be very much stronger than necessary, but it would not add anything to the strength of the column to resist compression. A formula for the compressive strength of a column could not include an element varying with the size of the lattice. If the lattice is weak, the column is simply deficient; so a formula for a hooped column is incorrect if it shows that the strength of the column varies with the section of the hoops, and, on this account, the common formula is incorrect. The hoops might be ever so strong, beyond a certain limit, and yet not an iota would be added to the compressive strength of the column, for the concrete between the hoops might crush long before their full strength was brought into play. Also, the hoops might be too far apart to be of much or any benefit, just as the lattice in a steel column might be too widely spaced. There is no element of personal opinion in these matters. They are simply incontrovertible facts. The strength of a hooped column, disregarding for the time the longitudinal steel, is dependent on the fact that thin discs of concrete are capable of carrying much more load than shafts or cubes. The hoops divide the column into thin discs, if they are closely spaced; widely spaced hoops do not effect this. Thin joints of lime mortar are known to be many times stronger than the same mortar in cubes. Why, in the many books on the subject of reinforced concrete, is there no mention of this simple principle? Why do writers on this subject practically ignore the importance of toughness or tensile strength in columns? The trouble seems to be in the tendency to interpret concrete in terms of steel. Steel at failure in short blocks will begin to spread and flow, and a short column has nearly the same unit strength as a short block. The action of concrete under compression is quite different, because of the weakness of concrete in tension. The concrete spalls off or cracks apart and does not flow under compression, and the unit strength of a shaft of concrete under compression has little relation to that of a flat block. Some years ago the writer pointed out that the weakness of cast-iron columns in compression is due to the lack of tensile strength or toughness in cast iron. Compare 7,600 lb. per sq. in. as the base of a column formula for cast iron with 100,000 lb. per sq. in. as the compressive strength of short blocks of cast iron. Then compare 750 lb. per sq. in., sometimes used in concrete columns, with 2,000 lb. per sq. in., the ultimate strength in blocks. A material one-fiftieth as strong in compression and one-hundredth as strong in tension with a "safe" unit one-tenth as great! The greater tensile strength of rich mixtures of concrete accounts fully for the greater showing in compression in tests of columns of such mixtures. A few weeks ago, an investigator in this line remarked, in a discussion at a meeting of engineers, that "the failure of concrete in compression may in cases be due to lack of tensile strength." This remark was considered of sufficient novelty and importance by an engineering periodical to make a special news item of it. This is a good illustration of the state of knowledge of the elementary principles in this branch of engineering. Mr. Turner states, "Again, concrete is a material which shows to the best advantage as a monolith, and, as such, the simple beam seems to be decidedly out of date to the experienced constructor." Similar things could be said of steelwork, and with more force. Riveted trusses are preferable to articulated ones for rigidity. The stringers of a bridge could readily be made continuous; in fact, the very riveting of the ends to a floor-beam gives them a large capacity to carry reverse moments. This strength is frequently taken advantage of at the end floor-beam, where a tie is made to rest on a bracket having the same riveted connection as the stringer. A small splice-plate across the top flanges of the stringers would greatly increase this strength to resist reverse moments. A steel truss span is ideally conditioned for continuity in the stringers, since the various supports are practically relatively immovable. This is not true in a reinforced concrete building where each support may settle independently and entirely vitiate calculated continuous stresses. Bridge engineers ignore continuity absolutely in calculating the stringers; they do not argue that a simple beam is out of date. Reinforced concrete engineers would do vastly better work if they would do likewise, adding top reinforcement over supports to forestall cracking only. Failure could not occur in a system of beams properly designed as simple spans, even if the negative moments over the supports exceeded those for which the steel reinforcement was provided, for the reason that the deflection or curving over the supports can only be a small amount, and the simple-beam reinforcement will immediately come into play. Mr. Turner speaks of the absurdity of any method of calculating a multiple-way reinforcement in slabs by endeavoring to separate the construction into elementary beam strips, referring, of course, to the writer's method. This is misleading. The writer does not endeavor to "separate the construction into elementary beam strips" in the sense of disregarding the effect of cross-strips. The "separation" is analogous to that of considering the tension and compression portions of a beam separately in proportioning their size or reinforcement, but unitedly in calculating their moment. As stated in the paper, "strips are taken across the slab and the moment in them is found, considering the limitations of the several strips in deflection imposed by those running at right angles therewith." It is a sound and rational assumption that each strip, 1 ft. wide through the middle of the slab, carries its half of the middle square foot of the slab load. It is a necessary limitation that the other strips which intersect one of these critical strips across the middle of the slab, cannot carry half of the intercepted square foot, because the deflection of these other strips must diminish to zero as they approach the side of the rectangle. Thus, the nearer the support a strip parallel to that support is located, the less load it can take, for the reason that it cannot deflect as much as the middle strip. In the oblong slab the condition imposed is equal deflection of two strips of unequal span intersecting at the middle of the slab, as well as diminished deflection of the parallel strips. In this method of treating the rectangular slab, the concrete in tension is not considered to be of any value, as is the case in all accepted methods. Some years ago the writer tested a number of slabs in a building, with a load of 250 lb. per sq. ft. These slabs were 3 in. thick and had a clear span of 44 in. between beams. They were totally without reinforcement. Some had cracked from shrinkage, the cracks running through them and practically the full length of the beams. They all carried this load without any apparent distress. If these slabs had been reinforced with some special reinforcement of very small cross-section, the strength which was manifestly in the concrete itself, might have been made to appear to be in the reinforcement. Magic properties could be thus conjured up for some special brand of reinforcement. An energetic proprietor could capitalize tension in concrete in this way and "prove" by tests his claims to the magic properties of his reinforcement. To say that Poisson's ratio has anything to do with the reinforcement of a slab is to consider the tensile strength of concrete as having a positive value in the bottom of that slab. It means to reinforce for the stretch in the concrete and not for the tensile stress. If the tensile strength of concrete is not accepted as an element in the strength of a slab having one-way reinforcement, why should it be accepted in one having reinforcement in two or more directions? The tensile strength of concrete in a slab of any kind is of course real, when the slab is without cracks; it has a large influence in the deflection; but what about a slab that is cracked from shrinkage or otherwise? Mr. Turner dodges the issue in the matter of stirrups by stating that they were not correctly placed in the tests made at the University of Illinois. He cites the Hennebique system as a correct sample. This system, as the writer finds it, has some rods bent up toward the support and anchored over it to some extent, or run into the next span. Then stirrups are added. There could be no objection to stirrups if, apart from them, the construction were made adequate, except that expense is added thereby. Mr. Turner cannot deny that stirrups are very commonly used just as they were placed in the tests made at the University of Illinois. It is the common practice and the prevailing logic in the literature of the subject which the writer condemns. Mr. Thacher says of the first point: "At the point where the first rod is bent up, the stress in this rod runs out. The other rods are sufficient to take the horizontal stress, and the bent-up portion provides only for the vertical and diagonal shearing stresses in the concrete." If the stress runs out, by what does that rod, in the bent portion, take shear? Could it be severed at the bend, and still perform its office? The writer can conceive of an inclined rod taking the shear of a beam if it were anchored at each end, or long enough somehow to have a grip in the concrete from the centroid of compression up and from the center of the steel down. This latter is a practical impossibility. A rod curved up from the bottom reinforcement and curved to a horizontal position and run to the support with anchorage, would take the shear of a beam. As to the stress running out of a rod at the point where it is bent up, this will hardly stand the test of analysis in the majority of cases. On account of the parabolic variation of stress in a beam, there should be double the length necessary for the full grip of a rod in the space from the center to the end of a beam. If 50 diameters are needed for this grip, the whole span should then be not less than four times 50, or 200 diameters of the rod. For the same reason the rod between these bends should be at least 200 diameters in length. Often the reinforcing rods are equal to or more than one-two-hundredth of the span in diameter, and therefore need the full length of the span for grip. Mr. Thacher states that Rod 3 provides for the shear. He fails to answer the argument that this rod is not anchored over the support to take the shear. Would he, in a queen-post truss, attach the hog-rod to the beam some distance out from the support and thus throw the bending and shear back into the very beam which this rod is intended to relieve of bending and shear? Yet this is just what Rod 3 would do, if it were long enough to be anchored for the shear, which it seldom is; hence it cannot even perform this function. If Rod 3 takes the shear, it must give it back to the concrete beam from the point of its full usefulness to the support. Mr. Thacher would not say of a steel truss that the diagonal bars would take the shear, if these bars, in a deck truss, were attached to the top chord several feet away from the support, or if the end connection were good for only a fraction of the stress in the bars. Why does he not apply the same logic to reinforced concrete design? Answering the third point, Mr. Thacher makes more statements that are characteristic of current logic in reinforced concrete literature, which does not bother with premises. He says, "In a beam, the shear rods run through the compression parts of the concrete and have sufficient anchorage." If the rods have sufficient anchorage, what is the nature of that anchorage? It ought to be possible to analyze it, and it is due to the seeker after truth to produce some sort of analysis. What mysterious thing is there to anchor these rods? The writer has shown by analysis that they are not anchored sufficiently. In many cases they are not long enough to receive full anchorage. Mr. Thacher merely makes the dogmatic statement that they are anchored. There is a faint hint of a reason in his statement that they run into the compression part of the concrete. Does he mean that the compression part of the concrete will grip the rod like a vise? How does this comport with his contention farther on that the beams are continuous? This would mean tension in the upper part of the beam. In any beam the compression near the support, where the shear is greatest, is small; so even this hint of an argument has no force or meaning. In this same paragraph Mr. Thacher states, concerning the third point and the case of the retaining wall that is given as an example, "In a counterfort, the inclined rods are sufficient to take the overturning stress." Mr. Thacher does not make clear what he means by "overturning stress." He seems to mean the force tending to pull the counterfort loose from the horizontal slab. The weight of the earth fill over this slab is the force against which the vertical and inclined rods of Fig. 2, at _a_, must act. Does Mr. Thacher mean to state seriously that it is sufficient to hang this slab, with its heavy load of earth fill, on the short projecting ends of a few rods? Would he hang a floor slab on a few rods which project from the bottom of a girder? He says, "The proposed method is no more effective." The proposed method is Fig. 2, at _b_, where an angle is provided as a shelf on which this slab rests. The angle is supported, with thread and nut, on rods which reach up to the front slab, from which a horizontal force, acting about the toe of the wall as a fulcrum, results in the lifting force on the slab. There is positively no way in which this wall could fail (as far as the counterfort is concerned) but by the pulling apart of the rods or the tearing out of this anchoring angle. Compare this method of failure with the mere pulling out of a few ends of rods, in the design which Mr. Thacher says is just as effective. This is another example of the kind of logic that is brought into requisition in order to justify absurd systems of design. Mr. Thacher states that shear would govern in a bridge pin where there is a wide bar or bolster or a similar condition. The writer takes issue with him in this. While in such a case the center of bearing need not be taken to find the bending moment, shear would not be the correct governing element. There is no reason why a wide bar or a wide bolster should take a smaller pin than a narrow one, simply because the rule that uses the center of bearing would give too large a pin. Bending can be taken in this, as in other cases, with a reasonable assumption for a proper bearing depth in the wide bar or bolster. The rest of Mr. Thacher's comment on the fourth point avoids the issue. What does he mean by "stress" in a shear rod? Is it shear or tension? Mr. Thacher's statement, that the "stress" in the shear rods is less than that in the bottom bars, comes close to saying that it is shear, as the shearing unit in steel is less than the tensile unit. This vague way of referring to the "stress" in a shear member, without specifically stating whether this "stress" is shear or tension, as was done in the Joint Committee Report, is, in itself, a confession of the impossibility of analyzing the "stress" in these members. It gives the designer the option of using tension or shear, both of which are absurd in the ordinary method of design. Writers of books are not bold enough, as a rule, to state that these rods are in shear, and yet their writings are so indefinite as to allow this very interpretation. Mr. Thacher criticises the fifth point as follows: "Vertical stirrups are designed to act like the vertical rods in a Howe truss. Special literature is not required on the subject; it is known that the method used gives good results, and that is sufficient." This is another example of the logic applied to reinforced concrete design--another dogmatic statement. If these stirrups act like the verticals in a Howe truss, why is it not possible by analysis to show that they do? Of course there is no need of special literature on the subject, if it is the intention to perpetuate this senseless method of design. No amount of literature can prove that these stirrups act as the verticals of a Howe truss, for the simple reason that it can be easily proven that they do not. Mr. Thacher's criticism of the sixth point is not clear. "All the shear from the center of the beam up to the bar in question," is what he says each shear member is designed to take in the common method. The shear of a beam usually means the sum of the vertical forces in a vertical section. If he means that the amount of this shear is the load from the center of the beam to the bar in question, and that shear members are designed to take this amount of shear, it would be interesting to know by what interpretation the common method can be made to mean this. The method referred to is that given in several standard works and in the Joint Committee Report. The formula in that report for vertical reinforcement is: _V_ _s_ _P_ = --------- , _j_ _d_ in which _P_ = the stress in a single reinforcing member, _V_ = the proportion of total shear assumed as carried by the reinforcement, _s_ = the horizontal spacing of the reinforcing members, and _j d_ = the effective depth. Suppose the spacing of shear members is one-half or one-third of the effective depth, the stress in each member is one-half or one-third of the "shear assumed to be carried by the reinforcement." Can Mr. Thacher make anything else out of it? If, as he says, vertical stirrups are designed to act like the vertical rods in a Howe truss, why are they not given the stress of the verticals of a Howe truss instead of one-half or one-third or a less proportion of that stress? Without meaning to criticize the tests made by Mr. Thaddeus Hyatt on curved-up rods with nuts and washers, it is true that the results of many early tests on reinforced concrete are uncertain, because of the mealy character of the concrete made in the days when "a minimum amount of water" was the rule. Reinforcement slips in such concrete when it would be firmly gripped in wet concrete. The writer has been unable to find any record of the tests to which Mr. Thacher refers. The tests made at the University of Illinois, far from showing reinforcement of this type to be "worse than useless," showed most excellent results by its use. That which is condemned in the seventh point is not so much the calculating of reinforced concrete beams as continuous, and reinforcing them properly for these moments, but the common practice of lopping off arbitrarily a large fraction of the simple beam moment on reinforced concrete beams of all kinds. This is commonly justified by some virtue which lies in the term monolith. If a beam rests in a wall, it is "fixed ended"; if it comes into the side of a girder, it is "fixed ended"; and if it comes into the side of a column, it is the same. This is used to reduce the moment at mid-span, but reinforcement which will make the beam fixed ended or continuous is rare. There is not much room for objection to Mr. Thacher's rule of spacing rods three diameters apart. The rule to which the writer referred as being 66% in error on the very premise on which it was derived, namely, shear equal to adhesion, was worked out by F.P. McKibben, M. Am. Soc. C. E. It was used, with due credit, by Messrs. Taylor and Thompson in their book, and, without credit, by Professors Maurer and Turneaure in their book. Thus five authorities perpetrate an error in the solution of one of the simplest problems imaginable. If one author of an arithmetic had said two twos are five, and four others had repeated the same thing, would it not show that both revision and care were badly needed? Ernest McCullough, M. Am. Soc. C. E., in a paper read at the Armour Institute, in November, 1908, says, "If the slab is not less than one-fifth of the total depth of the beam assumed, we can make a T-section of it by having the narrow stem just wide enough to contain the steel." This partly answers Mr. Thacher's criticism of the ninth point. In the next paragraph, Mr. McCullough mentions some very nice formulas for T-beams by a certain authority. Of course it would be better to use these nice formulas than to pay attention to such "rule-of-thumb" methods as would require more width in the stem of the T than enough to squeeze the steel in. If these complex formulas for T-beams (which disregard utterly the simple and essential requirement that there must be concrete enough in the stem of the T to grip the steel) are the only proper exemplifications of the "theory of T-beams," it is time for engineers to ignore theory and resort to rule-of-thumb. It is not theory, however, which is condemned in the paper, it is complex theory; theory totally out of harmony with the materials dealt with; theory based on false assumptions; theory which ignores essentials and magnifies trifles; theory which, applied to structures which have failed from their own weight, shows them to be perfectly safe and correct in design; half-baked theories which arrogate to themselves a monopoly on rationality. To return to the spacing of rods in the bottom of a T-beam; the report of the Joint Committee advocates a horizontal spacing of two and one-half diameters and a side spacing of two diameters to the surface. The same report advocates a "clear spacing between two layers of bars of not less than 1/2 in." Take a T-beam, 11-1/2 in. wide, with two layers of rods 1 in. square, 4 in each layer. The upper surface of the upper layer would be 3-1/2 in. above the bottom of the beam. Below this surface there would be 32 sq. in. of concrete to grip 8 sq. in. of steel. Does any one seriously contend that this trifling amount of concrete will grip this large steel area? This is not an extreme case; it is all too common; and it satisfies the requirements of the Joint Committee, which includes in its make-up a large number of the best-known authorities in the United States. Mr. Thacher says that the writer appears to consider theories for reinforced concrete beams and slabs as useless refinements. This is not what the writer intended to show. He meant rather that facts and tests demonstrate that refinement in reinforced concrete theories is utterly meaningless. Of course a wonderful agreement between the double-refined theory and test can generally be effected by "hunching" the modulus of elasticity to suit. It works both ways, the modulus of elasticity of concrete being elastic enough to be shifted again to suit the designer's notion in selecting his reinforcement. All of which is very beautiful, but it renders standard design impossible. Mr. Thacher characterizes the writer's method of calculating reinforced concrete chimneys as rule-of-thumb. This is surprising after what he says of the methods of designing stirrups. The writer's method would provide rods to take all the tensile stresses shown to exist by any analysis; it would give these rods unassailable end anchorages; every detail would be amply cared for. If loose methods are good enough for proportioning loose stirrups, and no literature is needed to show why or how they can be, why analyze a chimney so accurately and apply assumptions which cannot possibly be realized anywhere but on paper and in books? It is not rule-of-thumb to find the tension in plain concrete and then embed steel in that concrete to take that tension. Moreover, it is safer than the so-called rational formula, which allows compression on slender rods in concrete. Mr. Thacher says, "No arch designed by the elastic theory was ever known to fail, unless on account of insecure foundations." Is this the correct way to reach correct methods of design? Should engineers use a certain method until failures show that something is wrong? It is doubtful if any one on earth has statistics sufficient to state with any authority what is quoted in the opening sentence of this paragraph. Many arches are failures by reason of cracks, and these cracks are not always due to insecure foundations. If Mr. Thacher means by insecure foundations, those which settle, his assertion, assuming it to be true, has but little weight. It is not always possible to found an arch on rock. Some settlement may be anticipated in almost every foundation. As commonly applied, the elastic theory is based on the absolute fixity of the abutments, and the arch ring is made more slender because of this fixity. The ordinary "row-of-blocks" method gives a stiffer arch ring and, consequently, greater security against settlement of foundations. In 1904, two arches failed in Germany. They were three-hinged masonry arches with metal hinges. They appear to have gone down under the weight of theory. If they had been made of stone blocks in the old-fashioned way, and had been calculated in the old-fashioned row-of-blocks method, a large amount of money would have been saved. There is no good reason why an arch cannot be calculated as hinged ended and built with the arch ring anchored into the abutments. The method of the equilibrium polygon is a safe, sane, and sound way to calculate an arch. The monolithic method is a safe, sane, and sound way to build one. People who spend money for arches do not care whether or not the fancy and fancied stresses of the mathematician are realized; they want a safe and lasting structure. Of course, calculations can be made for shrinkage stresses and for temperature stresses. They have about as much real meaning as calculations for earth pressures behind a retaining wall. The danger does not lie in making the calculations, but in the confidence which the very making of them begets in their correctness. Based on such confidence, factors of safety are sometimes worked out to the hundredth of a unit. Mr. Thacher is quite right in his assertion that stiff steel angles, securely latticed together, and embedded in the concrete column, will greatly increase its strength. The theory of slabs supported on four sides is commonly accepted for about the same reason as some other things. One author gives it, then another copies it; then when several books have it, it becomes authoritative. The theory found in most books and reports has no correct basis. That worked out by Professor W.C. Unwin, to which the writer referred, was shown by him to be wrong.[T] An important English report gave publicity and much space to this erroneous solution. Messrs. Marsh and Dunn, in their book on reinforced concrete, give several pages to it. In referring to the effect of initial stress, Mr. Myers cites the case of blocks and says, "Whatever initial stress exists in the concrete due to this process of setting exists also in these blocks when they are tested." However, the presence of steel in beams and columns puts internal stresses in reinforced concrete, which do not exist in an isolated block of plain concrete. Mr. Meem, while he states that he disagrees with the writer in one essential point, says of that point, "In the ordinary way in which these rods are used, they have no practical value." The paper is meant to be a criticism of the ordinary way in which reinforced concrete is used. While Mr. Meem's formula for a reinforced concrete beam is simple and much like that which the writer would use, he errs in making the moment of the stress in the steel about the neutral axis equal to the moment of that in the concrete about the same axis. The actual amount of the tension in the steel should equal the compression in the concrete, but there is no principle of mechanics that requires equality of the moments about the neutral axis. The moment in the beam is, therefore, the product of the stress in steel or concrete and the effective depth of the beam, the latter being the depth from the steel up to a point one-sixth of the depth of the concrete beam from the top. This is the method given by the writer. It would standardize design as methods using the coefficient of elasticity cannot do. Professor Clifford, in commenting on the first point, says, "The concrete at the point of juncture must give, to some extent, and this would distribute the bearing over a considerable length of rod." It is just this local "giving" in reinforced concrete which results in cracks that endanger its safety and spoil its appearance; they also discredit it as a permanent form of construction. Professor Clifford has informed the writer that the tests on bent rods to which he refers were made on 3/4-in. rounds, embedded for 12 in. in concrete and bent sharply, the bent portion being 4 in. long. The 12-in. portion was greased. The average maximum load necessary to pull the rods out was 16,000 lb. It seems quite probable that there would be some slipping or crushing of the concrete before a very large part of this load was applied. The load at slipping would be a more useful determination than the ultimate, for the reason that repeated application of such loads will wear out a structure. In this connection three sets of tests described in Bulletin No. 29 of the University of Illinois, are instructive. They were made on beams of the same size, and reinforced with the same percentage of steel. The results were as follows: Beams 511.1, 511.2, 512.1, 512.2: The bars were bent up at third points. Average breaking load, 18,600 lb. All failed by slipping of the bars. Beams 513.1, 513.2: The bars were bent up at third points and given a sharp right-angle turn over the supports. Average breaking load, 16,500 lb. The beams failed by cracking alongside the bar toward the end. Beams 514.2, 514.3: The bars were bent up at third points and had anchoring nuts and washers at the ends over the supports. Average breaking load, 22,800 lb. These failed by tension in the steel. By these tests it is seen that, in a beam, bars without hooks were stronger in their hold on the concrete by an average of 13% than those with hooks. Each test of the group of straight bars showed that they were stronger than either of those with hooked bars. Bars anchored over the support in the manner recommended in the paper were nearly 40% stronger than hooked bars and 20% stronger than straight bars. These percentages, furthermore, do not represent all the advantages of anchored bars. The method of failure is of greatest significance. A failure by tension in the steel is an ideal failure, because it is easiest to provide against. Failures by slipping of bars, and by cracking and disintegrating of the concrete beam near the support, as exhibited by the other tests, indicate danger, and demand much larger factors of safety. Professor Clifford, in criticizing the statement that a member which cannot act until failure has started is not a proper element of design, refers to another statement by the writer, namely, "The steel in the tension side of the beam should be considered as taking all the tension." He states that this cannot take place until the concrete has failed in tension at this point. The tension side of a beam will stretch out a measurable amount under load. The stretching out of the beam vertically, alongside of a stirrup, would be exceedingly minute, if no cracks occurred in the beam. Mr. Mensch says that "the stresses involved are mostly secondary." He compares them to web stresses in a plate girder, which can scarcely be called secondary. Furthermore, those stresses are carefully worked out and abundantly provided for in any good design. To give an example of how a plate girder might be designed: Many plate girders have rivets in the flanges, spaced 6 in. apart near the supports, that is, girders designed with no regard to good practice. These girders, perhaps, need twice as many rivets near the ends, according to good and acceptable practice, which is also rational practice. The girders stand up and perform their office. It is doubtful whether they would fail in these rivet lines in a test to destruction; but a reasonable analysis shows that these rivets are needed, and no good engineer would ignore this rule of design or claim that it should be discarded because the girders do their work anyway. There are many things about structures, as every engineer who has examined many of those erected without engineering supervision can testify, which are bad, but not quite bad enough to be cause for condemnation. Not many years ago the writer ordered reinforcement in a structure designed by one of the best structural engineers in the United States, because the floor-beams had sharp bends in the flange angles. This is not a secondary matter, and sharp bends in reinforcing rods are not a secondary matter. No amount of analysis can show that these rods or flange angles will perform their full duty. Something else must be overstressed, and herein is a violation of the principles of sound engineering. Mr. Mensch mentions the failure of the Quebec Bridge as an example of the unknown strength of steel compression members, and states that, if the designer of that bridge had known of certain tests made 40 years ago, that accident probably would not have happened. It has never been proven that the designer of that bridge was responsible for the accident or for anything more than a bridge which would have been weak in service. The testimony of the Royal Commission, concerning the chords, is, "We have no evidence to show that they would have actually failed under working conditions had they been axially loaded and not subject to transverse stresses arising from weak end details and loose connections." Diagonal bracing in the big erection gantry would have saved the bridge, for every feature of the wreck shows that the lateral collapse of that gantry caused the failure. Here are some more simple principles of sound engineering which were ignored. It is when practice runs "ahead of theory" that it needs to be brought up with a sharp turn. It is the general practice to design dams for the horizontal pressure of the water only, ignoring that which works into horizontal seams and below the foundation, and exerts a heavy uplift. Dams also fail occasionally, because of this uplifting force which is proven to exist by theory. Mr. Mensch says: "The author is manifestly wrong in stating that the reinforcing rods can only receive their increments of stress when the concrete is in tension. Generally, the contrary happens. In the ordinary adhesion test, the block of concrete is held by the jaws of the machine and the rod is pulled out; the concrete is clearly in compression." This is not a case of increments at all, as the rod has the full stress given to it by the grips of the testing machine. Furthermore, it is not a beam. Also, Mr. Mensch is not accurate in conveying the writer's meaning. To quote from the paper: "A reinforcing rod in a concrete beam receives its stress by increments imparted by the grip of the concrete, but these increments can only be imparted where the tendency of the concrete is to stretch." This has no reference to an adhesion test. Mr. Mensch's next paragraph does not show a careful perusal of the paper. The writer does not "doubt the advisability of using bent-up bars in reinforced concrete beams." What he does condemn is bending up the bars with a sharp bend and ending them nowhere. When they are curved up, run to the support, and are anchored over the support or run into the next span, they are excellent. In the tests mentioned by Mr. Mensch, the beams which had the rods bent up and "continued over the supports" gave the highest "ultimate values." This is exactly the construction which is pointed out as being the most rational, if the rods do not have the sharp bends which Mr. Mensch himself condemns. Regarding the tests mentioned by him, in which the rods were fastened to anchor-plates at the end and had "slight increase of strength over straight rods, and certainly made a poorer showing than bent-up bars," the writer asked Mr. Mensch by letter whether these bars were curved up toward the supports. He has not answered the communication, so the writer cannot comment on the tests. It is not necessary to use threaded bars, except in the end beams, as the curved-up bars can be run into the next beam and act as top reinforcement while at the same time receiving full anchorage. Mr. Mensch's statement regarding the retaining wall reinforced as shown at _a_, Fig. 2, is astounding. He "confesses that he never saw or heard of such poor practices." If he will examine almost any volume of an engineering periodical of recent years, he will have no trouble at all in finding several examples of these identical practices. In the books by Messrs. Reid, Maurer and Turneaure, and Taylor and Thompson, he will find retaining walls illustrated, which are almost identical with Fig. 2 at _a_. Mr. Mensch says that the proposed design of a retaining wall would be difficult and expensive to install. The harp-like reinforcement could be put together on the ground, and raised to place and held with a couple of braces. Compare this with the difficulty, expense and uncertainty of placing and holding in place 20 or 30 separate rods. The Fink truss analogy given by Mr. Mensch is a weak one. If he were making a cantilever bracket to support a slab by tension from the top, the bracket to be tied into a wall, would he use an indiscriminate lot of little vertical and horizontal rods, or would he tie the slab directly into the wall by diagonal ties? This is exactly the case of this retaining wall, the horizontal slab has a load of earth, and the counterfort is a bracket in tension; the vertical wall resists that tension and derives its ability to resist from the horizontal pressure of the earth. Mr. Mensch states that "it would take up too much time to prove that the counterfort acts really as a beam." The writer proposes to show in a very short time that it is not a beam. A beam is a part of a structure subject to bending strains caused by transverse loading. This will do as a working definition. The concrete of the counterfort shown at _b_, Fig. 2, could be entirely eliminated if the rods were simply made to run straight into the anchoring angle and were connected with little cast skewbacks through slotted holes. There would be absolutely no bending in the rods and no transverse load. Add the concrete to protect the rods; the function of the rods is not changed in the least. M.S. Ketchum, M. Am. Soc. C. E.,[U] calculates the counterfort as a beam, and the six 1-in. square bars which he uses diagonally do not even run into the front slab. He states that the vertical and horizontal rods are to "take the horizontal and vertical shear." Mr. Mensch says of rectangular water tanks that they are not held (presumably at the corners) by any such devices, and that there is no doubt that they must carry the stress when filled with water. A water tank,[V] designed by the writer in 1905, was held by just such devices. In a tank[W] not held by any such devices, the corner broke, and it is now held by reinforcing devices not shown in the original plans. Mr. Mensch states that he "does not quite understand the author's reference to shear rods. Possibly he means the longitudinal reinforcement, which it seems is sometimes calculated to carry 10,000 lb. per sq. in. in shear;" and that he "never heard of such a practice." His next paragraph gives the most pointed out-and-out statement regarding shear in shear rods which this voluminous discussion contains. He says that stirrups "are best compared with the dowel pins and bolts of a compound wooden beam." This is the kernel of the whole matter in the design of stirrups, and is just how the ordinary designer considers stirrups, though the books and reports dodge the matter by saying "stress" and attempting no analysis. Put this stirrup in shear at 10,000 lb. per sq. in., and we have a shearing unit only equalled in the cheapest structural work on tight-fitting rivets through steel. In the light of this confession, the force of the writer's comparison, between a U-stirrup, 3/4-in. in diameter, and two 3/4-in. rivets tightly driven into holes in a steel angle, is made more evident, Bolts in a wooden beam built up of horizontal boards would be tightly drawn up, and the friction would play an important part in taking up the horizontal shear. Dowels without head or nut would be much less efficient; they would be more like the stirrups in a reinforced concrete beam. Furthermore, wood is much stronger in bearing than concrete, and it is tough, so that it would admit of shifting to a firm bearing against the bolt. Separate slabs of concrete with bolts or dowels through them would not make a reliable beam. The bolts or dowels would be good for only a part of the safe shearing strength of the steel, because the bearing on the concrete would be too great for its compressive strength. Mr. Mensch states that at least 99% of all reinforced structures are calculated with a reduction of 25% of the bending moment in the center. He also says "there may be some engineers who calculate a reduction of 33 per cent." These are broad statements in view of the fact that the report of the Joint Committee recommends a reduction of 33% both in slabs and beams. Mr. Mensch's remarks regarding the width of beams omit from consideration the element of span and the length needed to develop the grip of a rod. There is no need of making a rod any less in diameter than one-two-hundredth of the span. If this rule is observed, the beam with three 7/8-in. round rods will be of longer span than the one with the six 5/8-in. rods. The horizontal shear of the two beams will be equal to the total amount of that shear, but the shorter beam will have to develop that shear in a shorter distance, hence the need of a wider beam where the smaller rods are used. It is not that the writer advocates a wide stem in the T-beam, in order to dispense with the aid of the slab. What he desires to point out is that a full analysis of a T-beam shows that such a width is needed in the stem. Regarding the elastic theory, Mr. Mensch, in his discussion, shows that he does not understand the writer's meaning in pointing out the objections to the elastic theory applied to arches. The moment of inertia of the abutment will, of course, be many times that of the arch ring; but of what use is this large moment of inertia when the abutment suddenly stops at its foundation? The abutment cannot be anchored for bending into the rock; it is simply a block of concrete resting on a support. The great bending moment at the end of the arch, which is found by the elastic theory (on paper), has merely to overturn this block of concrete, and it is aided very materially in this by the thrust of the arch. The deformation of the abutment, due to deficiency in its moment of inertia, is a theoretical trifle which might very aptly be minutely considered by the elastic arch theorist. He appears to have settled all fears on that score among his votaries. The settlement of the abutment both vertically and horizontally, a thing of tremendously more magnitude and importance, he has totally ignored. Most soils are more or less compressible. The resultant thrust on an arch abutment is usually in a direction cutting about the edge of the middle third. The effect of this force is to tend to cause more settlement of the abutment at the outer, than at the inner, edge, or, in other words, it would cause the abutment to rotate. In addition to this the same force tends to spread the abutments apart. Both these efforts put an initial bending moment in the arch ring at the springing; a moment not calculated, and impossible to calculate. Messrs. Taylor and Thompson, in their book, give much space to the elastic theory of the reinforced concrete arch. Little of that space, however, is taken up with the abutment, and the case they give has abutments in solid rock with a slope about normal to the thrust of the arch ring. They recommend that the thrust be made to strike as near the middle of the base of the abutment as possible. Malverd A. Howe, M. Am. Soc. C. E., in a recent issue of _Engineering News_, shows how to find the stresses and moments in an elastic arch; but he does not say anything about how to take care of the large bending moments which he finds at the springing. Specialists in arch construction state that when the centering is struck, every arch increases in span by settlement. Is this one fact not enough to make the elastic theory a nullity, for that theory assumes immovable abutments? Professor Howe made some recent tests on checking up the elastic behavior of arches. He reports[X] that "a very slight change at the support does seriously affect the values of _H_ and _M_." The arch tested was of 20-ft. span, and built between two heavy stone walls out of all proportion to the magnitude of the arch, as measured by comparison with an ordinary arch and its abutment. To make the arch fixed ended, a large heavily reinforced head was firmly bolted to the stone wall. Practical fixed endedness could be attained, of course, by means such as these, but the value of such tests is only theoretical. Mr. Mensch says: "The elastic theory was fully proved for arches by the remarkable tests, made in 1897 by the Austrian Society of Engineers and Architects, on full-sized arches of 70-ft. span, and the observed deflections and lateral deformations agreed exactly with the figured deformation." The writer does not know of the tests made in 1897, but reference is often made to some tests reported in 1896. These tests are everywhere quoted as the unanswerable argument for the elastic theory. Let us examine a few features of those tests, and see something of the strength of the claim. In the first place, as to the exact agreement between the calculated and the observed deformations, this exact agreement was retroactive. The average modulus of elasticity, as found by specimen tests of the concrete, did not agree at all with the value which it was necessary to use in the arch calculations in order to make the deflections come out right. As found by tests on blocks, the average modulus was about 2,700,000; the "practical" value, as determined from analysis of a plain concrete arch, was 1,430,000, a little matter of nearly 100 per cent. Mansfield Merriman, M. Am. Soc. C. E., gives a digest of these famous Austrian tests.[Y] There were no fixed ended arches among them. There was a long plain concrete arch and a long Monier arch. Professor Merriman says, "The beton Monier arch is not discussed theoretically, and, indeed, this would be a difficult task on account of the different materials combined." And these are the tests which the Engineering Profession points to whenever the elastic theory is questioned as to its applicability to reinforced concrete arches. These are the tests that "fully prove" the elastic theory for arches. These are the tests on the basis of which fixed ended reinforced concrete arches are confidently designed. Because a plain concrete bow between solid abutments deflected in an elastic curve, reinforced concrete arches between settling abutments are designed with fixed ends. The theorist has departed about as far as possible from his premise in this case. On an exceedingly slender thread he has hung an elaborate and important theory of design, with assumptions which can never be realized outside of the schoolroom or the designer's office. The most serious feature of such theories is not merely the approximate and erroneous results which they give, but the extreme confidence and faith in their certainty which they beget in their users, enabling them to cut down factors of safety with no regard whatever for the enormous factor of ignorance which is an essential accompaniment to the theory itself. Mr. Mensch says, "The elastic theory enables one to calculate arches much more quickly than any graphical or guess method yet proposed." The method given by the writer[Z] enables one to calculate an arch in about the time it would take to work out a few of the many coefficients necessary in the involved method of the elastic theory. It is not a graphic method, but it is safe and sound, and it does not assume conditions which have absolutely no existence. Mr. Mensch says that the writer brings up some erratic column tests and seems to have no confidence in reinforced concrete columns. In relation to this matter Sanford E. Thompson, M. Am. Soc. C. E., in a paper recently read before the National Association of Cement Users, takes the same sets of tests referred to in the paper, and attempts to show that longitudinal reinforcement adds much strength to a concrete column. Mr. Thompson goes about it by means of averages. It is not safe to average tests where the differences in individual tests are so great that those of one class overlap those of the other. He includes the writer's "erratic" tests and some others which are "erratic" the other way. It is manifestly impossible for him to prove that longitudinal rods add any strength to a concrete column if, on one pair of columns, identically made as far as practicable, the plain concrete column is stronger than that with longitudinal rods in it, unless the weak column is defective. It is just as manifest that it is shown by this and other tests that the supposedly reinforced concrete column may be weaker. The averaging of results to show that longitudinal rods add strength, in the case of the tests reported by Mr. Withey, includes a square plain concrete column which naturally would show less compressive strength in concrete than a round column, because of the spalling off at the corners. This weak test on a square column is one of the slender props on which is based the conclusion that longitudinal rods add to the strength of a concrete column; but the weakness of the square concrete column is due to the inherent weakness of brittle material in compression when there are sharp corners which may spall off. Mr. Worcester says that several of the writer's indictments hit at practices which were discarded long ago, but from the attitude of their defenders this does not seem to be true. There are benders to make sharp bends in rods, and there are builders who say that they must be bent sharply in order to simplify the work of fitting and measuring them. There are examples in engineering periodicals and books, too numerous to mention, where no anchorage of any kind is provided for bent-up rods, except what grip they get in the concrete. If they reached beyond their point of usefulness for this grip, it would be all right, but very often they do not. Mr. Worcester says: "It is not necessary that a stirrup at one point should carry all the vertical tension, as this vertical tension is distributed by the concrete." The writer will concede that the stirrups need not carry all the vertical shear, for, in a properly reinforced beam, the concrete can take part of it. The shear reinforcement, however, should carry all the shear apportioned to it after deducting that part which the concrete is capable of carrying, and it should carry it without putting the concrete in shear again. The stirrups at one point should carry all the vertical tension from the portion of shear assumed to be taken by the stirrups; otherwise the concrete will be compelled to carry more than its share of the shear. Mr. Worcester states that cracks are just as likely to occur from stress in curved-up and anchored rods as in vertical reinforcement. The fact that the vertical stretching out of a beam from the top to the bottom, under its load, is exceedingly minute, has been mentioned. A curved-up bar, anchored over the support and lying near the bottom of the beam at mid-span, partakes of the elongation of the tension side of the beam and crosses the section of greatest diagonal tension in the most advantageous manner. There is, therefore, a great deal of difference in the way in which these two elements of construction act. Mr. Worcester prefers the "customary method" of determining the width of beams--so that the maximum horizontal shearing stress will not be excessive--to that suggested by the writer. He gives as a reason for this the fact that rods are bent up out of the bottom of a beam, and that not all of them run to the end. The "customary method" must be described in literature for private circulation. Mention has been made of a method which makes the width of beam sufficient to insert the steel. Considerations of the horizontal shear in a T-beam, and of the capacity of the concrete to grip the steel, are conspicuous by their absence in the analyses of beams. If a reinforcing rod is curved up and anchored over the support, the concrete is relieved of the shear, both horizontal and vertical, incident to the stress in that rod. If a reinforcing rod is bent up anywhere, and not carried to the support, and not anchored over it, as is customary, the shear is all taken by the concrete; and there is just the same shear in the concrete as though the rods were straight. For proper grip a straight rod should have a diameter of not more than one two-hundredth of the span. For economy of material, it should not be much smaller in diameter than this. With this balance in a beam, assuming shear equal to bond, the rods should be spaced a distance apart, equal to their perimeters. This is a rational and simple rule, and its use would go a long way toward the adoption of standards. Mr. Worcester is not logical in his criticism of the writer's method of reinforcing a chimney. It is not necessary to assume that the concrete is not stressed, in the imaginary plain concrete chimney, beyond that which plain concrete could take in tension. The assumption of an imaginary plain concrete chimney and determinations of tensile stresses in the concrete are merely simplified methods of finding the tensile stress. The steel can take just as much tensile stress if its amount is determined in this way as it can if any other method is used. The shifting of the neutral axis, to which Mr. Worcester refers, is another of the fancy assumptions which cannot be realized because of initial and unknown stresses in the concrete and steel. Mr. Russell states that the writer scarcely touched on top reinforcement in beams. This would come in the class of longitudinal rods in columns, unless the reinforcement were stiff members. Mr. Russell's remarks, to the effect that columns and short deep beams, doubly reinforced, should be designed as framed structures, point to the conclusion that structural beams and columns, protected with concrete, should be used in such cases. If the ruling motive of designers were uniformly to use what is most appropriate in each particular location and not to carry out some system, this is just what would be done in many cases; but some minds are so constructed that they take pleasure in such boasts as this: "There is not a pound of structural steel in that building." A broad-minded engineer will use reinforced concrete where it is most appropriate, and structural steel or cast iron where these are most appropriate, instead of using his clients' funds to carry out some cherished ideas. Mr. Wright appreciates the writer's idea, for the paper was not intended to criticize something which is "good enough" or which "answers the purpose," but to systematize or standardize reinforced concrete and put it on a basis of rational analysis and common sense, such a basis as structural designing has been or is being placed on, by a careful weeding out of all that is irrational, senseless, and weak. Mr. Chapman says that the practical engineer has never used such methods of construction as those which the writer condemns. The methods are common enough; whether or not those who use them are practical engineers is beside the question. As to the ability of the end connection of a stringer carrying flange stress or bending moments, it is not uncommon to see brackets carrying considerable overhanging loads with no better connection. Even wide sidewalks of bridges sometimes have tension connections on rivet heads. While this is not to be commended, it is a demonstration of the ability to take bending which might be relied on, if structural design were on as loose a basis as reinforced concrete. Mr. Chapman assumes that stirrups are anchored at each end, and Fig. 3 shows a small hook to effect this anchorage. He does not show how vertical stirrups can relieve a beam of the shear between two of these stirrups. The criticism the writer would make of Figs. 5 and 6, is that there is not enough concrete in the stem of the T to grip the amount of steel used, and the steel must be gripped in that stem, because it does not run to the support or beyond it for anchorage. Steel members in a bridge may be designed in violation of many of the requirements of specifications, such as the maximum spacing of rivets, size of lattice bars, etc.; the bridge will not necessarily fail or show weakness as soon as it is put into service, but it is faulty and weak just the same. Mr. Chapman says: "The practical engineer does not find * * * that the negative moment is double the positive moment, because he considers the live load either on one span only, or on alternate spans." It is just in such methods that the "practical engineer" is inconsistent. If he is going to consider the beams as continuous, he should find the full continuous beam moment and provide for it. It is just this disposition to take an advantage wherever one can be taken, without giving proper consideration to the disadvantage entailed, which is condemned in the paper. The "practical engineer" will reduce his bending moment in the beam by a large fraction, because of continuity, but he will not reinforce over the supports for full continuity. Reinforcement for full continuity was not recommended, but it was intimated that this is the only consistent method, if advantage is taken of continuity in reducing the principal bending moment. Mr. Chapman says that an arch should not be used where the abutments are unstable. Unstable is a relative and indefinite word. If he means that abutments for arches should never be on anything but rock, even such a foundation is only quite stable when the abutment has a vertical rock face to take horizontal thrusts. If arches could be built only under such conditions, few of them would be built. Some settlement is to be expected in almost any soil, and because of horizontal thrusts there is also a tendency for arch abutments to rotate. It is this tendency which opens up cracks in spandrels of arches, and makes the assumption of a fixed tangent at the springing line, commonly made by the elastic theorist, absolute foolishness. Mr. Beyer has developed a novel explanation of the way stirrups act, but it is one which is scarcely likely to meet with more serious consideration than the steel girder to which he refers, which has neither web plate nor diagonals, but only verticals connecting the top and bottom flanges. This style of girder has been considered by American engineers rather as a curiosity, if not a monstrosity. If vertical stirrups acted to reinforce little vertical cantilevers, there would have to be a large number of them, so that each little segment of the beam would be insured reinforcement. The writer is utterly at a loss to know what Professor Ostrup means by his first few paragraphs. He says that in the first point two designs are mentioned and a third condemned. The second design, whatever it is, he lays at the writer's door in these words: "The author's second design is an invention of his own, which the Profession at large is invited to adopt." In the first point sharp bends in reinforcing rods are condemned and curves recommended. Absolutely nothing is said of "a reinforced concrete beam arranged in the shape of a rod, with separate concrete blocks placed on top of it without being connected." In reply to Professor Ostrup, it should be stated that the purpose of the paper is not to belittle the importance of the adhesion or grip of concrete on steel, but to point out that the wonderful things this grip is supposed to do, as exhibited by current design, will not stand the test of analysis. Professor Ostrup has shown a new phase of the stress in shear rods. He says they are in bending between the centers of compressive resultants. We have been told in books and reports that these rods are in stress of some kind, which is measured by the sectional area of the rod. No hint has been given of designing stirrups for bending. If these rods are not in shear, as stated by Professor Ostrup, how can they be in bending in any such fashion as that indicated in Fig. 12? Professor Ostrup's analysis, by which he attempts to justify stirrups and to show that vertical stirrups are preferable, merely treats of local distribution of stress from short rods into concrete. Apparently, it would work the same if the stirrups merely touched the tension rod. His analysis ignores the vital question of what possible aid the stirrup can be in relieving the concrete between stirrups of the shear of the beam. The juggling of bending moments in beams is not compensating. The following is a concrete example. Some beams of a span of about 20 ft., were framed into double girders at the columns. The beams were calculated as partly continuous, though they were separated at their ends by about 1-1/2 or 2 ft., the space between the girders. The beams had 1-1/8-in. tension rods in the bottom. At the supports a short 1/4-in. rod was used near the top of the beam for continuity. Does this need any comment? It was not the work of a novice or of an inexperienced builder. Professor Ostrup's remarks about the shifting of the neutral axis of a beam and of the pressure line of an arch are based on theory which is grounded in impossible assumptions. The materials dealt with do not justify these assumptions or the hair-splitting theory based thereon. His platitudes about the danger of misplacing reinforcement in an arch are hardly warranted. If the depth and reinforcement of an arch ring are added to, as the inelastic, hinge-end theory would dictate, as against the elastic theory, it will strengthen the arch just as surely as it would strengthen a plate girder to thicken the web and flange angles. The writer's complaint is not that the theories of reinforced concrete are not fully developed. They are developed too highly, developed out of all comparison with the materials dealt with. It is just because reinforced concrete structures are being built in increasing numbers that it behooves engineers to inject some rationality (not high-strung theory) into their designs, and drop the idea that "whatever is is right." Mr. Porter has much to say about U-bars. He states that they are useful in holding the tension bars in place and in tying the slab to the stem of a T-beam. These are legitimate functions for little loose rods; but why call them shear rods and make believe that they take the shear of a beam? As to stirrups acting as dowel pins, the writer has already referred to this subject. Answering a query by Mr. Porter, it may be stated that what would counteract the horizontal cleaving force in a beam is one or more rods curved up to the upper part of the beam and anchored at the support or run into the next span. Strangely enough, Mr. Porter commends this very thing, as advocated in the paper. The excellent results shown by the test referred to by him can well be contrasted with some of the writer's tests. This floor was designed for 250 lb. per sq. ft. When that load was placed on it, the deflection was more than 1 in. in a span of 20 ft. No rods were curved up and run over the supports. It was a stirrup job. Mr. Porter intimates that the correct reinforced concrete column may be on lines of concrete mixed with nails or wires. There is no doubt but that such concrete would be strong in compression for the reason that it is strong in tension, but a column needs some unifying element which is continuous. A reinforced column needs longitudinal rods, but their office is to take tension; they should not be considered as taking compression. Mr. Goodrich makes this startling remark: "It is a well-known fact that the bottom chords in queen-post trusses are useless, as far as resistance to tension is concerned." The writer cannot think that he means by this that, for example, a purlin made up of a 3 by 2-in. angle and a 5/8-in. hog-rod would be just as good with the rod omitted. If queen-post trusses are useless, some hundreds of thousands of hog-rods in freight cars could be dispensed with. Mr. Goodrich misunderstands the reference to the "only rational and only efficient design possible." The statement is that a design which would be adopted, if slabs were suspended on rods, is the only rational and the only efficient design possible. If the counterfort of a retaining wall were a bracket on the upper side of a horizontal slab projecting out from a vertical wall, and all were above ground, the horizontal slab being heavily loaded, it is doubtful whether any engineer would think of using any other scheme than diagonal rods running from slab to wall and anchored into each. This is exactly the condition in this shape of retaining wall, except that it is underground. Mr. Goodrich says that the writer's reasoning as to the sixth point is almost wholly facetious and that concrete is very strong in pure shear. The joke, however, is on the experimenters who have reported concrete very strong in shear. They have failed to point out that, in every case where great strength in shear is manifested, the concrete is confined laterally or under heavy compression normal to the sheared plane. Stirrups do not confine concrete in a direction normal to the sheared plane, and they do not increase the compression. A large number of stirrups laid in herring-bone fashion would confine the concrete across diagonal planes, but such a design would be wasteful, and the common method of spacing the stirrups would not suggest their office in this capacity. As to the writer's statements regarding the tests in Bulletin No. 29 of the University of Illinois being misleading, he quotes from that bulletin as follows: "Until the concrete web has failed in diagonal tension and diagonal cracks have formed there must be little vertical deformation at the plane of the stirrups, so little that not much stress can have developed in the stirrups." * * * "It is evident, then, that until the concrete web fails in diagonal tension little stress is taken by the stirrups." * * * "It seems evident from the tests that the stirrups did not take much stress until after the formation of diagonal cracks." * * * "It seems evident that there is very little elongation in stirrups until the first diagonal crack forms, and hence that up to this point the concrete takes practically all the diagonal tension." * * * "Stirrups do not come into action, at least not to any great extent, until the diagonal crack has formed." In view of these quotations, the misleading part of the reference to the tests and their conclusion is not so evident. The practical tests on beams with suspension rods in them, referred to by Mr. Porter, show entirely different results from those mentioned by Mr. Goodrich as being made by Mörsch. Tests on beams of this sort, which are available in America, seem to show excellent results. Mr. Goodrich is somewhat unjust in attributing failures to designs which are practically in accordance with the suggestions under Point Seven. In Point Seven the juggling of bending moments is condemned--it is condemnation of methods of calculating. Point Seven recommends reinforcing a beam for its simple beam moment. This is the greatest bending it could possibly receive, and it is inconceivable that failure could be due to this suggestion. Point Seven recommends a reasonable reinforcement over the support. This is a matter for the judgment of the designer or a rule in specifications. Failure could scarcely be attributed to this. It is the writer's practice to use reinforcement equal to one-half of the main reinforcement of the beam across the support; it is also his practice to curve up a part of the beam reinforcement and run it into the next span in all beams needing reinforcement for shear; but the paper was not intended to be a treatise on, nor yet a general discussion of, reinforced concrete design. Mr. Goodrich characterizes the writer's method of calculating reinforced concrete chimneys as crude. It is not any more crude than concrete. The ultra-theoretic methods are just about as appropriate as calculations of the area of a circle to hundredths of a square inch from a paced-off diameter. The same may be said of deflection calculations. Mr. Goodrich has also appreciated the writer's spirit in presenting this paper. Attention to details of construction has placed structural steel designing on the high plane on which it stands. Reinforced concrete needs the same careful working out of details before it can claim the same recognition. It also needs some simplification of formulas. Witness the intricate column formulas for steelwork which have been buried, and even now some of the complex beam formulas for reinforced concrete have passed away. Major Sewell, in his discussion of the first point, seems to object solely to the angle of the bent-up portion of the rod. This angle could have been much less, without affecting the essence of the writer's remarks. Of course, the resultant, _b_, would have been less, but this would not create a queen-post at the sharp bend of the bar. Major Sewell says that he "does not remember ever to have seen just the type of construction shown in Fig. 1, either used or recommended." This type of beam might be called a standard. It is almost the insignia of a reinforced concrete expert. A little farther on Major Sewell says that four beams tested at the University of Illinois were about as nearly like Fig. 1 as anything he has ever seen in actual practice. He is the only one who has yet accused the writer of inventing this beam. If Major Sewell's statement that he has never seen the second point exemplified simply means that he has never seen an example of the bar bent up at the identical angle given in the paper, his criticism has not much weight. Major Sewell's comment on the retaining wall begs the question. Specific references to examples have been given in which the rods of a counterfort are not anchored into the slabs that they hold by tension, save by a few inches of embedment; an analysis has also been cited in which the counterfort is considered as a beam, and ties in the great weight of the slab with a few "shear rods," ignoring the anchorage of either horizontal, vertical, or diagonal rods. It is not enough that books state that rods in tension need anchorage. They should not show examples of rods that are in pure tension and state that they are merely thrown in for shear. Transverse rods from the stem to the flange of a T-beam, tie the whole together; they prevent cracking, and thereby allow the shearing strength of the concrete to act. It is not necessary to count the rods in shear. Major Sewell's comparison of a stirrup system and a riveted truss is not logical. The verticals and diagonals of a riveted truss have gusset plates which connect symmetrically with the top chord. One line of rivets or a pin in the center line of the top chord could be used as a connection, and this connection would be complete. To distribute rivets above and below the center line of the top chord does not alter the essential fact that the connection of the web members is complete at the center of the top chord. The case of stirrups is quite different. Above the centroid of compression there is nothing but a trifling amount of embedment of the stirrup. If 1/2-in. stirrups were used in an 18-in. beam, assuming that 30 diameters were enough for anchorage, the centroid of compression would be, say, 3 in. below the top of the beam, the middle point of the stirrup's anchorage would be about 8 in., and the point of full anchorage would be about 16 in. The neutral axis would come somewhere between. These are not unusual proportions. Analogy with a riveted truss fails; even the anchorage above the neutral axis is far from realization. Major Sewell refers to shallow bridge stringers and the possibility of failure at connections by continuity or deflection. Structural engineers take care of this, not by reinforcement for continuity but by ample provision for the full bending moment in the stringer and by ample depth. Provision for both the full bending moment and the ample depth reduces the possibilities of deflection at the floor-beams. Major Sewell seems also to have assumed that the paper was a general discussion on reinforced concrete design. The idea in pointing out that a column having longitudinal rods in it may be weaker than a plain concrete column was not to exalt the plain concrete column but to degrade the other. A plain concrete column of any slenderness would manifestly be a gross error. If it can be shown that one having only longitudinal rods may be as bad, or worse, instead of being greatly strengthened by these rods, a large amount of life and property may be saved. A partial reply to Mr. Thompson's discussion will be found in the writer's response to Mr. Mensch. The fault with Mr. Thompson's conclusions lies in the error of basing them on averages. Average results of one class are of little meaning or value when there is a wide variation between the extremes. In the tests of both the concrete-steel and the plain concrete which Mr. Thompson averages there are wide variations. In the tests made at the University of Illinois there is a difference of almost 100% between the minimum and maximum results in both concrete-steel and plain concrete columns. Average results, for a comparison between two classes, can mean little when there is a large overlap in the individual results, unless there is a large number of tests. In the seventeen tests made at the University of Illinois, which Mr. Thompson averages, the overlap is so great that the maximum of the plain columns is nearly 50% greater than the minimum of the concrete-steel columns. If the two lowest tests in plain concrete and the two highest in concrete-steel had not been made, the average would be in favor of the plain concrete by nearly as much as Mr. Thompson's average now favors the concrete-steel columns. Further, if these four tests be eliminated, only three of the concrete-steel columns are higher than the plain concrete. So much for the value of averages and the conclusions drawn therefrom. It is idle to draw any conclusions from such juggling of figures, except that the addition of longitudinal steel rods is altogether problematical. It may lessen the compressive strength of a concrete column. Slender rods in such a column cannot be said to reinforce it, for the reason that careful tests have been recorded in which columns of concrete-steel were weaker than those of plain concrete. In the averages of the Minneapolis tests Mr. Thompson has compared the results on two plain concrete columns with the average of tests on an indiscriminate lot of hooped and banded columns. This method of boosting the average shows anything but "critical examination" on his part. Mr. Thompson, on the subject of Mr. Withey's tests, compares plain concrete of square cross-section with concrete-steel of octagonal section. As stated before, this is not a proper comparison. In a fragile material like concrete the corners spall off under a compressive load, and the square section will not show up as well as an octagonal or round one. Mr. Thompson's contention, regarding the Minneapolis tests, that the concrete outside of the hoops should not be considered, is ridiculous. If longitudinal rods reinforce a concrete column, why is it necessary to imagine that a large part of the concrete must be assumed to be non-existent in order to make this reinforcement manifest? An imaginary core could be assumed in a plain concrete column and any desired results could be obtained. Furthermore, a properly hooped column does not enter into this discussion, as the proposition is that slender longitudinal rods do not reinforce a concrete column; if hoops are recognized, the column does not come under this proposition. Further, the proposition in the writer's fifteenth point does not say that the steel takes no part of the compression of a column. Mr. Thompson's laborious explanation of the fact that the steel receives a share of the load is needless. There is no doubt that the steel receives a share of the load--in fact, too great a share. This is the secret of the weakness of a concrete column containing slender rods. The concrete shrinks, the steel is put under initial compression, the load comes more heavily on the steel rods than on the concrete, and thus produces a most absurd element of construction--a column of slender steel rods held laterally by a weak material--concrete. This is the secret of nearly all the great wrecks in reinforced concrete: A building in Philadelphia, a reservoir in Madrid, a factory in Rochester, a hotel in California. All these had columns with longitudinal rods; all were extensive failures--probably the worst on record; not one of them could possibly have failed as it did if the columns had been strong and tough. Why use a microscope and search through carefully arranged averages of tests on nursery columns, with exact central loading, to find some advantage in columns of this class, when actual experience is publishing in bold type the tremendously important fact that these columns are utterly untrustworthy? It is refreshing to note that not one of the writer's critics attempts to defend the quoted ultimate strength of a reinforced concrete column. Even Mr. Thompson acknowledges that it is not right. All of which, in view of the high authority with whom it originated, and the wide use it has been put to by the use of the scissors, would indicate that at last there is some sign of movement toward sound engineering in reinforced concrete. In conclusion it might be pointed out that this discussion has brought out strong commendation for each of the sixteen indictments. It has also brought out vigorous defense of each of them. This fact alone would seem to justify its title. A paper in a similar strain, made up of indictments against common practices in structural steel design, published in _Engineering News_ some years ago, did not bring out a single response. While practice in structural steel may often be faulty, methods of analysis are well understood, and are accepted with little question. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote E: _Transactions_, Am. Soc. C. E., Vol. LXVI, p. 431.] [Footnote F: _Loc. cit._, p. 448.] [Footnote G: _Engineering News_, Dec. 3d, 1908.] [Footnote H: _Journal_ of the Western Society of Engineers, 1905.] [Footnote I: Tests made for C.A.P. Turner, by Mason D. Pratt, M. Am. Soc. C. E.] [Footnote J: _Transactions_, Am. Soc. C. E., Vol. LVI, p. 343.] [Footnote K: Bulletin No. 28, University of Illinois.] [Footnote L: Bulletin No. 12, University of Illinois, Table VI, page 27.] [Footnote M: Professeur de Stabilité a l'Université de Louvain.] [Footnote N: A translation of Professor Vierendeel's theory may be found in _Beton und Eisen_, Vols. X, XI, and XII, 1907.] [Footnote O: _Cement_, March, 1910, p. 343; and _Concrete Engineering_, May, 1910, p. 113.] [Footnote P: The correct figures from the _Bulletin_ are 1,577 lb.] [Footnote Q: _Engineering News_, January 7th, 1909, p. 20.] [Footnote R: For fuller treatment, see the writer's discussion in _Transactions_, Am. Soc. C. E., Vol. LXI, p. 46.] [Footnote S: See "Tests of Metals," U.S.A., 1905, p. 344.] [Footnote T: _The Engineering Record_, August 17th, 1907.] [Footnote U: "The Design of Walls, Bins and Elevators."] [Footnote V: _Engineering News_, September 28th, 1905.] [Footnote W: _The Engineering Record_, June 26th, 1909.] [Footnote X: _Railroad Age Gazette_, March 26th, 1909.] [Footnote Y: _Engineering News_, April 9th, 1896.] [Footnote Z: "Structural Engineering: Concrete."] 
48360	----	The Internet Archive (https://archive.org/). Transcribers Note Emphasized text is displayed as _Italic_. FARMERS' BULLETIN 1230 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CHIMNEYS & FIREPLACES They Contribute to the Health Comfort and Happiness of the Farm Family HOW TO BUILD THEM [Illustration] OF THE mistakes commonly made in home building none is more frequent than faulty design and construction of chimneys and fireplaces. Though the use of the fireplace is one of the oldest methods of house heating there are few who understand the principles of its action, and even experienced masons frequently fall into errors in building which seriously detract from the efficiency of the installation. No defect in the construction of the house detracts more from the comfort of the home and none is a greater menace to life and property than a poor chimney and fireplace. Bad chimney design is also the cause of much avoidable expense in heating the house. This bulletin is designed to give the householder and prospective builder, and especially the farmer or other rural resident who builds or superintends the building of his own home, a working knowledge of the principles to be observed in planning and building these important parts of the house, which, if they are observed, will go a long way to promote the comfort of the home and insure the safety of the property. Contribution from the Bureau of Public Roads THOS. H. MacDONALD, Chief Washington, D. C. Issued, December, 1921; reprint, April 1922 CHIMNEYS AND FIREPLACES. A. M. Daniels, _Assistant Mechanical Engineer, Division of Agricultural Engineering, Bureau of Public Roads_. CONTENTS. Page. _Chimneys_: Function of chimneys 3 The chimney draft 4 Shapes and sizes of flues 5 Height of chimney 7 Flue linings 7 Location and wall thickness 8 Openings into the chimney 10 Supporting the chimney 10 Capping the chimney 12 Chimney and roof connections 12 Chimney connections 12 Chimney insulation 14 Smoke test for leakage 14 Cleaning and repairing the flue 15 _Fireplaces_: Essentials of fireplace construction 15 Area of the flue 16 The throat 17 Smoke shelf and chamber 18 Shape of fireplace 19 Throat damper 19 Placing the throat damper 20 Size of fireplace opening 20 Depth of fireplace opening 20 The hearth 21 The jambs 21 Fireplace back and sides 21 Supporting irons 21 Improving fireplace heating 22 FUNCTION OF CHIMNEYS. [Illustration: T] HE prime function of a chimney is to produce a draft that will cause sufficient combustion and carry off the resulting smoke; incidentally it assists ventilation. Many unsatisfactory heating plants and much excessive fuel consumption are due to improperly constructed chimneys, which are the rule rather than the exception. Although many of these are more inefficient than dangerous, yet reports of the National Board of Fire Underwriters[1] show that a larger number of fires are caused by defective chimney construction than by anything else. The annual loss resulting from such fires is greater than the fire loss from any other cause. Poor chimney construction is responsible for smoke pollution of the air, waste of fuel, and poor heating. [1] "Dwelling Houses," a publication issued by the National Board of Fire Underwriters in the interest of fire protection, has been used as a basis for the matter relating to the requirements and construction of chimneys and methods of fire protection. The most common faults in chimney construction are: 1. The use of unsuitable materials. Clay sewer pipe, hollow building blocks, or unprotected concrete should not be used. 2. Improper laying of brick. Brick should not be laid on edge and should be properly bonded. Lining should be used in all brick chimneys the walls of which are less than 8 inches thick. Lack of mortar, especially in the perpendicular joints, ruins many an otherwise good chimney. 3. Failure to support the chimney properly. It should never be carried on any timber construction of the building, and when it rests upon the ground sufficient masonry foundation should be provided to prevent settling. 4. Building inflammable material into the chimney or against it without proper insulation. 5. Failure to anchor the smoke pipe properly to the chimney. 6. Neglect of the connection between smoke pipe and flue or of the flue itself. The connection should be tight; rusted pipe should be replaced; the chimney should be kept clean and the joints in the brickwork properly pointed. 7. Lack of a tight flue. A flue free from leakage is unusual. Every flue should be tight enough to prevent escape of smoke when tested as described on page 14. A leaky flue is the most frequent cause of heating troubles, high fuel bills, and destructive fires. 8. Failure to maintain the full sectional area at the bend when a flue is offset. 9. Use of the main heating apparatus flue for water heater or other auxiliary equipment. The furnace or heater should have a separate flue. 10. Failure to provide a separate tight cleanout for each flue. Two or more otherwise good flues may be rendered inefficient if led into one cleanout, since air may be drawn from one into another and the draft in all affected. 11. Presence of deep pockets leading to cleanouts. They may cause eddying currents that are detrimental. Pockets should be only deep enough to permit installing a cast-iron cleanout frame and door just below the smoke pipe entrance. Deep pockets allow soot accumulation that may take fire. THE CHIMNEY DRAFT. The draft depends entirely upon the chimney flue. The better the flue the more satisfactory and efficient will be the operation of the entire heating apparatus. The strength or intensity of the draft is dependent mainly upon the tightness, size, and height of the chimney flue. The most common error in chimney construction is failure to distinguish between the size of flue necessary for free passage of the volume of smoke from a given amount of fuel and that which with proper height will produce the required draft. A chimney may be high enough, yet have an area too small to carry properly the volume of smoke. On the other hand, the size may be sufficient but the chimney too low to produce a draft strong enough to pull the air through the fire at a sufficiently rapid rate. Either fault or a combination of the two will result in unsatisfactory service. Draft in a chimney flue is caused by the difference in weight between a volume of air on the outside and an equal volume of products of combustion from the fire on the inside. The higher the temperature of a given weight of air, the greater is its total volume and the lighter the weight of its unit volume. This produces a condition of unbalanced pressures at the base of the flue. The rising of the lighter gases within the chimney tends to equalize the pressures. So long as the fire burns this condition of unbalanced pressure persists, the result being draft. This is the basic principle which governs chimney action and upon which the draft depends. The greater the difference between the temperature in the flue and that outside the greater the tendency toward equalization of pressure and hence the better the draft. In summer the draft of a chimney is not as good as in winter because the difference in temperature between the outside air and that of the gases in the flue is less. [Illustration: Round. Elliptical. Square. Oblong. Fig. 1.--Round flues offer the least resistance to the passage of gases, but most residence flues are made either square or oblong for structural reasons.] SHAPES AND SIZES OF FLUES. The most efficient chimney is one built perfectly straight with a round or nearly round flue and a smooth interior surface. There is no advantage in reducing the sectional area toward the top. The cross section and height are determining factors. The transverse area must be sufficient to pass the volume of air required to burn the fuel properly, and the height must be great enough to insure against interference with the draft by adjoining buildings or projections of the same building and to produce a sufficiently strong draft. Loss in draft strength is due to air leakage, and friction of the gases against the sides of the chimney. A round flue (see fig. 1) is the most desirable because it offers less resistance to the spirally ascending column of smoke and gases. The elliptical is second choice so far as the movement of the gases is concerned, but the difficulties that it presents in manufacture and construction eliminate this shape. A rectangular chimney either square or oblong is not effective over its full transverse area; for the rising column, being approximately circular in section, does not fill the corners. However, square or oblong forms are far more common than the round, owing to the greater cost of round flue construction. Square flues are preferable to oblong so far as efficiency is concerned, but in the larger sizes of house flues the oblong shape is more generally used because it fits to better advantage into the plan of the house. An oblong flue should never have the long side more than 4 inches greater than the short side. A flue 8 inches by 16 inches is bad flue construction for draft purposes. The sizes given in Table 1 are recommended by the National Warm Air Heating and Ventilating Association. Like all data for both high and low pressure flues, these sizes are based on experience, not on scientific data, and are subject to modification by further research. The dimensions given are for unlined flues. The actual inside dimensions of flue tile are slightly different because of the lack of standardization. In selecting the flue for a furnace or other large heating unit an 8-inch by 12-inch size should be considered the minimum for a lined or unlined flue, and 12 inches by 12 inches the minimum for a lined or unlined flue whose height is more than 35 feet measured above the grate level. If the chimney is designed for a small unit such as a laundry stove or kitchen range an 8-inch by 8-inch flue may be used. [Illustration: Fig. 2.--Top of chimney should be at least 2 feet above the top of ridge in order that the wind currents may not be deflected down the chimney.] The proper size of flue depends upon the size of the heater or furnace for which is to be used. All manufacturers' catalogues contain the size of the smoke pipe for each particular heater, and from Table 1 (minimum) dimensions for round, square, and oblong flues may be selected; or if the catalogue contains stack sizes select the proper one. The flue tile to be used should have a transverse net inside area approximately equal to that of the smoke pipe. Table 1. Diameter Diameter of smoke of smoke pipe or Height of pipe or Height of round Size of chimney round Size of chimney chimney chimney flue above chimney chimney flue above flue. flue. grate. flue. flue. grate. ----------+--------+-----------+---------+---------+---------- Inches. Inches. Feet. Inches. Inches. Feet. 8 8 by 12 35 15 16 by 16 45 9 8 by 12 35 16 16 by 18 45 10 12 by 12 35 17 16 by 20 50 11 12 by 12 40 18 16 by 20 55 12 12 by 12 40 19 20 by 20 55 13 12 by 16 40 20 20 by 24 60 14 12 by 16 45 HEIGHT OF CHIMNEY. In Table 1 the minimum height of the chimney above the grate is given as 35 feet. Higher chimneys are considered more satisfactory, and authorities claim that any flue under 40 feet in height will produce an erratic draft, good on some days but poor on others The force or direction of the wind may be the cause, or the amount of moisture in the air, or the quality of the fuel may be responsible. The higher the chimney the less will be the possibility of counter air currents and the stronger and more constant the draft. Soft coal and the sizes of hard coal known as pea and buckwheat are apt to cake and fill up the air spaces through the bed of the fire, with the result that an intense draft is required to give the fuel sufficient air. The top of the chimney should extend at least 3 feet above flat roofs and 2 feet above the ridge of peak roofs (see figs. 2 and 3), and it should not be on the side of the house adjacent to a large tree or a structure higher than itself (see fig. 4), for these may Cause eddies and force air down the chimney. A poor draft will most likely result when the wind is blowing in the direction indicated. [Illustration: Fig. 3.--Extensions to the chimney required In order that it might draw properly.] FLUE LININGS. Although chimneys are built unlined to save expense, those properly lined with tile are undoubtedly more efficient. Linings prevent disintegration of mortar and bricks through the action of flue gases. This disintegration and that occurring from changes in temperature result frequently in open cracks in the flue (see fig. 5-B) which reduce or check the draft. If loose brick and mortar should fall within they may lodge so as to cause partial or almost complete stoppage (see fig. 5-D). The danger of this latter condition is greater if the flue be built with offsets or bends. Any change in direction should be made as gradual as possible and with an angle not greater than 30 degrees with the perpendicular. The most important requirement for a flue lining is that it withstand high temperatures and not be subject to disintegration by ordinary flue gases. It should be made of fire clay and for the purpose. The thickness should be 1 inch. It should be set in cement mortar with the joints struck smooth on the inside. Each length of flue lining should be placed in position, and the brick should then be laid around it; if the lining is slipped down after several courses of brick have been laid, the joints can not properly be filled with mortar and leakage is almost sure to result. [Illustration: Fig. 4.--Large trees located near chimney tops may deflect wind currents down the chimney. This may be avoided by placing the chimney on the opposite side of the building.] Well-burned clay flue linings are generally satisfactory for dwelling-house chimneys used for stoves, ranges, fireplaces, and furnaces. In regions where the fuel is natural gas, hot flue gases are said to have caused linings to disintegrate and crumble off. In such a case it may be necessary to use a fire clay that has stood the test or line the chimney with fire brick. Linings are manufactured in round, square, and oblong shapes, but not in elliptical. The oblong and square shapes are better adapted to brick construction than the round. They permit of simpler and less expensive masonry work. On the other hand, the round shape produces better draft and is easier to clean. A fireplace flue, if straight, should be lined from the throat continuously to the top. The smoke chamber should be lined with fire clay or cement mortar one-half inch thick. In case the masonry in front of the throat is less than 8 inches thick the lining should start at the bottom of the lintel. The hottest part of the flue is at its throat, and if it is not lined at that point or if the masonry is not of sufficient thickness, there is danger of overheating. Careful attention should be given to details of flue construction in order to assure satisfactory operation and reduce the fire hazard. LOCATION AND WALL THICKNESS. The best location for the chimney is near the center of the building, for when so located its four walls are kept warm; cold winds can not chill it and cause it to draw poorly. However, it is not always possible to plan the arrangement of rooms so that the chimney may be thus located. The outside wall of a chimney should be at least 8 inches thick in order to reduce heat loss and the chance of air leakage into the flue. [Illustration: Fig. 5.--A. An unlined chimney before use. B. Same chimney, after being in service. Frequently the heat and weather cause the mortar to disintegrate so that air leaks in through the joints, causing a reduction in the draft. C. Same chimney as A, showing terra cotta flue lining in place. D. An unlined chimney with offset. Loose brick and mortar may fall and become lodged at the offset during construction or loosening of the points and disintegration may cause bricks from an uncapped chimney to check the draft completely.] If the flue is lined and the chimney is not higher than 30 feet, its walls, if of brick, may be made 4 inches thick, provided adjacent inflammable material is properly insulated. If unlined, the walls should not be less than 8 inches thick. It is not good practice to place the linings of two flues side by side. If there is more than one flue in a chimney, the flues should be separated from each other by a division wall of brick at least 4 inches thick (see fig. 6), bonded into the side walls, and the joints of the flue linings should be staggered or offset at least 6 inches (see fig. 7). This construction insures stability, reduces the chance for air leakage between flues, and prevents the possibility of a fire in one flue involving an adjacent flue. If stone is used in chimney construction, the walls should be at least 4 inches thicker than brick walls. Walls of concrete chimneys should be not less than 4 inches thick or else they should be reinforced in both directions; otherwise cracking during the setting of the concrete or, later, due to temperature changes or unequal settlement of the foundation is apt to occur. Concrete blocks are not recommended, but if they are used each block should be reinforced with steel running continuously around it and the blocks should be not less than 4 inches thick. They should be lined with the best flue lining. All monolithic concrete chimneys with walls less than 8 inches thick should be lined. OPENINGS INTO THE CHIMNEY. It is not unusual to find an opening into a chimney other than for the smoke pipe of the main heating apparatus. This is a frequent cause of unsatisfactory operation. No range, stove, fireplace, or ventilating register should be connected with the chimney flue built for the heating apparatus. If it should be desired to use an existing abandoned fireplace chimney for a range or stove the fireplace flue should be closed tight about a foot below the place where the smoke pipe enters. [Illustration: Fig. 6.--A division wall of at least 4 inches of brick should separate each flue from any others in the same chimney. Either of the arrangements shown will produce a good bond.] There should be but one connection with a flue, if for no other reason than to decrease the fire hazard. Fires frequently occur from sparks that pass into the flue through one opening and out through another. Two stoves, one on the first floor and one on the second, may be connected with the same chimney flue, but if the fire in the upper stove is hotter than in the lower, the lower will have practically no draft. A soot pocket provided with a door for cleaning it out is very convenient. The door should be placed just below the smoke pipe opening, and care must be taken to see that it fits snugly and is always closed so tight that no air can get in. SUPPORTING THE CHIMNEY. All chimneys should be built from the ground up. None of the weight should be carried by any part of the building except the foundation. Proper foundations should be provided at least 12 inches wider all round than the chimney. If the chimney is an exterior one, and there is no basement or cellar, its foundation should be started well below the frost line. Otherwise the base of the chimney should be at the same level as the bottom of the foundation of the building. No chimney should rest upon or be carried by wooden floors, beams, or brackets, nor should it be hung from wooden rafters. Wood construction shrinks, and beams supporting heavy loads always deflect in time. Sagging of the beams injures the walls and ceilings of the house and is apt to crack the chimney and render it dangerous. Chimneys usually extend several feet above the roof, exposing considerable surface to the wind, and unless the support is stable they are likely to sway during a gale with the possibility of the joints at the roof-line opening. Openings in a flue at this point are especially dangerous, for sparks from the flue may come into contact with the woodwork of the roof. This swaying may also cause leaks in the roof. [Illustration: Fig. 7.--Chimney and roof connection. Sheet metal A should have shingles K over it at least 4 inches. Apron B bent as at E with base flashings C, D, and H and cap flashings P and G, lapping over the base flashings provide watertight construction. When the chimney contains two flues the joints should be separated as shown.] The brickwork around all fireplaces and flues should be laid with cement mortar, as it is more resistant than lime mortar to the action of heat and flue gases. It is well to use cement mortar for the entire chimney construction. All mortar used for chimney construction, except for laying firebrick, should be proportioned as follows: Two bags of Portland cement, not less than 188 pounds, and one bag of dry hydrated lime, 50 pounds, thoroughly mixed dry, and to this mixture should be added three times its volume of clean sand with sufficient water to produce proper consistency. When dry hydrated lime is not available, 1 cubic foot of completely slaked lime putty may be substituted for the dry hydrate. CAPPING THE CHIMNEY. Brick chimneys should be capped with stone, concrete, or cast-iron. Unless a chimney is capped the top courses of brick may become loosened and therefore dangerous. Plain topped chimneys will last longer and are safer than those of an ornamental character. The opening in the cap piece should be the full size of the flue. CHIMNEY AND ROOF CONNECTION. Where the chimney passes through the roof the construction should provide space for expansion due to temperature changes, settlement, or slight movement of the chimney during heavy winds. (See fig. 7.) Copper is the best material for flashings. It is easier to handle than galvanized sheet-metal, which is more often used because of its lesser cost, but which will corrode in time, both from inside and outside exposure. Tin or black iron are cheaper but will rust quickly unless frequently painted. Lead and zinc are expensive and should not be used for chimney flashings, for in case of fire under the roof they will melt and leave an opening to create a draft by which the intensity of the fire will be increased. [Illustration: Fig. 8.--A. Wrong connection, producing interference and a poor draft. B. Correct construction, producing a good draft by providing a free passage for the gases.] CHIMNEY CONNECTIONS. Proper care in setting and looking after smoke pipes connecting with chimneys would greatly lessen the number of fires chargeable to defective construction. In fitting the smoke pipe no opening should be left around it, and the pipe should not project into the flue lining. (See fig. 8.) The joint should be made air-tight by a closely fitting collar and boiler putty or fireproof cement. The proper construction is shown in figure 8-B, but if the pipe extends into the flue a shelf is formed on which soot will accumulate, the flue area will be reduced and a poor draft may result. Smoke pipes should enter the chimney horizontally, and the connection through the chimney wall to the flue should be made with fire clay or metal thimbles securely and tightly set in the masonry. If the walls are furred, no wood should be within 12 inches of thimbles or any part of the smoke pipe. The space between the thimble and wood furring should be covered with metal lath and plaster. [Illustration: Fig. 9.--Smoke pipe passing through a partition. A, 7/8-inch sides of partition; B, 2 by 4 studs in partition; C, ventilating holes in the double galvanized iron ventilating thimble D. Thimble should be at least 12 inches larger than pipe S.] Flue holes when not in use should be closed with tight fitting metal covers. If the room is papered the metal covers may also be papered, provided there is no other smoke connection with the flue, or provided a protective coating of asbestos paper is first applied over the metal. If there is another connection the metal may become hot enough to scorch the unprotected wall paper or set it afire. No smoke pipe should be permitted within 18 inches of any woodwork unless at least that half of the pipe nearest the woodwork is protected properly by 1 inch or more of fireproof covering. A metal casing 2 inches from the upper half of the pipe is sometimes employed to protect woodwork directly above it. When a smoke pipe is so protected it should never be less than 9 inches from any woodwork or combustible material. The storage of wooden boxes, barrels, or any combustible should not be permitted under or near a furnace smoke Pipe. If a smoke pipe must be carried through a wood partition the woodwork should be properly protected. This can be done by cutting an opening in the partition and inserting a galvanized iron double-walled ventilating thimble at least 12 inches larger than the smoke pipe (see fig. 9), or protection may be afforded by at least 4 inches of brickwork or other incombustible material. Smoke pipes should not pass through floors, closets, or concealed spaces. They should not enter a chimney in a garret. They should be cleaned at least once a year. CHIMNEY INSULATION. All wooden construction adjacent to chimneys should be insulated. A space of 2 inches should be left between the outside face of a chimney and all wooden beams or joists. This space should be filled with some porous, nonmetallic, incombustible material. Loose cinders serve well. (See fig. 10.) Do not use brickwork, mortar, or solid concrete. The filling should be done before the floor is laid, as it not only forms a fire stop but prevents accumulation of shavings or other combustible material. Baseboards fastened to plaster which is directly in contact with the outside wall of a chimney should be protected by placing a layer of fireproof material at least one-eighth inch thick between the woodwork and the plaster. (See fig. 10.) [Illustration: Fig. 10.--No woodwork should be permitted closer than 2 inches to the outside face of a chimney. Baseboards in front of chimneys should be protected with asbestos board.] Wooden studding, furring, or lathing should not under any circumstances be placed against a chimney. Wooden construction should be set back from the chimney as indicated in figures 11 and 12; or the plaster may be applied directly to the masonry or to metal lathing laid over the masonry. The former is the better method, as settlement of the chimney will not crack the plaster. It is recommended that a coat of cement plaster be applied directly upon the masonry of any parts of a chimney that are to be incased by a wooden partition or other combustible construction. [Illustration: Fig. 11.--No wooden studding, furring, or lathing should be placed against the chimney. It should be set back as indicated in this figure and in fig. 12.] [Illustration: Fig. 12.] SMOKE TEST FOR LEAKAGE. Every flue should be subjected to a smoke test before the heater is connected with it. This may be done as follows: Build a paper, straw, wood, or tar-paper fire at the base of the flue, and when the smoke is passing in a dense column tightly block the outlet at the top by laying a wet blanket over it. If leakage exists at any point, it will immediately become apparent by the appearance of smoke at the opening. Flues so tested frequently reveal very bad leaks into adjoining flues or directly through the walls or between the linings and the wall. When the smoke test indicates leakage, the defect should be remedied before the chimney is accepted for use. Remedying such defects is usually difficult, hence it is wise to watch the construction closely as it progresses. Many brick masons say that all flues leak. This is not true; every flue should be tight. CLEANING AND REPAIRING THE FLUE. If a smoke test shows no leakage and the flue is straight, a hand mirror held at the proper angle at the base affords a means of examination for obstructions. Usual causes of stoppage are broken tile leaning inward, mortar accumulations, loose bricks, bird's nests, partly burned paper, soot from soft coal, tarry deposits from burning wood, etc. A weighted bag of hay or straw attached to the end of a rope may be passed up and down the flue to clean it if there is not too great an offset in it. FIREPLACES. The use of the fireplace is a very old method of house heating. As ordinarily constructed fireplaces are not efficient and economical. The only warming effect is produced by the heat given off by radiation from the back, sides, and hearth of the fireplace. Practically no heating effect is produced by convection; that is, by air currents. The air passes through the fire, is heated, and passes up the chimney, carrying with it the heat required to raise its temperature from that at which it entered the room and at the same time drawing into the room outside air of a lower temperature. The effect of the cold air thus brought into the room is particularly noticeable in parts of the room farthest from the fire. The open fireplace, however, has its place as an auxiliary to the heating plant and for the hominess that a burning fire imparts to the room. If one is to be provided, the essentials of construction should be understood and followed so that it will not smoke. ESSENTIALS OF FIREPLACE CONSTRUCTION. In order that satisfactory results may be obtained from an open fireplace, it is essential: First, that the flue have the proper area; second, that the throat be correctly proportioned and located; third, that a properly-constructed smoke shelf and chamber be provided; fourth, that the chimney be carried high enough to avoid interference; and fifth, that the shape of the fireplace be such as to direct a maximum amount of radiated heat into the room. AREA OF THE FLUE. The sectional area of the flue bears a direct relation to the area of the fireplace opening. The area of lined flues should be a tenth or more of that of the fireplace opening. If the flues are unlined the proportion should be increased slightly because of greater friction. Thirteen square inches of area for the chimney flue to every square foot of fireplace opening is a good rule to follow. For the fireplace shown in figure 13-A, the opening of which has an area of 8.25 square feet, there is required a flue having an area of 107 square inches. If this flue were built of brick and unlined it would probably be made 8 inches by 16 inches, or 128 square inches, because brickwork can be laid to better advantage when the dimensions of the flue are multiples of 4 inches. If the flue is lined the lining should have an inside area approximating 107 square inches. It is seldom possible to secure lining having the exact required area, but the clear area should never be less than that prescribed above. [Illustration: Fig. 13.--A. Top of throat damper is at DD, smoke shelf at CO. Side wall should not be drawn in until the height DD is passed. This assures full area. If the drawing in is done as indicated by lines EF and EG, the width of the throat becomes less than the width of the opening and causes the air currents to pile up in the corners of the throat, resulting frequently in a smoky fireplace. B. Correct fireplace construction.] Failure to provide a chimney flue of sufficient sectional area is in many instances the cause of an unsatisfactory fireplace. The cross section should be the same throughout the entire length of the chimney. Do not contract the flue at the chimney top, for that would nullify the larger opening below; if it is necessary to change the direction of a flue the full area should be preserved through all turns and bends, and the change should be made as gradual as possible. THE THROAT. In figure 13-B is shown the throat, the narrow opening between the fireplace and the smoke chamber. Correct throat construction contributes more to efficiency than any other feature except proper flue design. A flue twice as large as is necessary brought straight down to the fireplace without constriction at the throat would result in a poor draft, for the draft does not depend upon the largeness of the flue but upon its proper proportioning to the fireplace and throat. The arrows indicate the upward flowing currents of warm air which are thrown forward at the throat and pass through the smoke chamber into the flue on the inner side. This rapid upward passage of air causes a down current on the opposite side, as indicated by the descending arrows. The down current is not nearly as strong as the up current, but it may be of such force that if there be no throat to the fireplace (see fig. 14) to increase the velocity of the upward current by constricting it, the meeting of the two currents will result in smoke being forced out into the room. Thus it frequently happens that a fireplace has an ample flue area and yet smokes badly. The influence of the throat upon the upward and downward air currents is shown in figure 13-B. [Illustration: Fig. 14.--Fireplaces constructed like this without throat will very likely smoke.] The area of the throat should not be less than that of the flue. Its length should always be equal to the width of the fireplace opening. (See fig. 13-A.) The sides of the fireplace should be vertical until the throat is passed. (DD in fig. 13-A.) Above the throat the sides should be drawn in until the desired flue area is attained. The throat should be set 8 inches above the location of the lintel, as shown in figure 13, A and B. The wrong way to place the throat damper is shown in figure 15. The throat should not be more than 4 or 5 inches wide. The lesser width is a safe standard. If a damper is installed the width of the brick opening at the throat will depend upon the width of the frame of the damper, the width of the throat proper being regulated by the hinged cover of the damper. If the throat damper is omitted the opening should be 4 inches, as shown in figure 16. The smoke shelf should not be bricked up but should conform to the dotted lines. The depth of the smoke shelf should be the same for a 2-foot as for a 10-foot fireplace opening. Proper throat construction is so necessary to a successful fireplace that the work should be carefully watched to see that the width is not made more than 4 inches and that the side walls are carried up perpendicularly until the throat is passed, so that the full length of opening is provided. All masons do not appreciate these fine but necessary points. Many prefer their own and sometimes will ignore the proper methods. It is therefore advisable to inspect the work several times a day as it progresses and thus avoid poor results. When trouble is experienced in an existing fireplace that has ample flue area, it is usually found that the formation of the throat is the cause. [Illustration: Fig. 15.--Wrong location for throat damper. The throat is so low that the accumulation of gases at the point constricted weakens rather than improves the draft with greater likelihood of a smoky fireplace. Note that the smoke shelf is bricked up. This is wrong.] SMOKE SHELF AND CHAMBER. A smoke shelf and chamber are absolutely essential. The shelf is formed by setting the brickwork back at the top of the throat to the line of the flue wall. The shelf should be the full length of the throat. The depth of the shelf should be not less than 4 inches. It may vary from this to 12 or more, depending upon the depth of the fireplace. The purpose of the smoke shelf is to change the direction of the down draft so that the hot gases at the throat will strike it approximately at a right angle instead of head on. Therefore the shelf should not be bricked up as shown in figures 15 and 16, but should be made as wide as the construction will permit at a height of 8 inches above the top of the fireplace opening. The smoke chamber is the space extending from the top of the throat up to the bottom of the flue proper and between the side walls, which may be drawn in after the top of the throat is passed. The area at the bottom of the chamber is quite large, since its width includes that of the throat added to the depth of the smoke shelf. This space is capable of holding accumulated smoke temporarily in case a gust of wind across the top of the chimney momentarily cuts off the draft. Smoke might be forced into the room if there were no reservoir to hold it. The smoke chamber also lessens the force of the down draft by increasing the area through which it passes. If the walls are drawn inward 1 foot for each 18 inches of rise, friction is reduced and interference with the draft lessened. The walls should be smooth inside, for roughness seriously impedes the upward movement of the air currents. SHAPE OF THE FIREPLACE. The shape of the fireplace proper should be as indicated in figure 13-A. The back should pitch forward from a point a little less than half way from the hearth to the top of the opening, and the sides should be beveled as indicated. Straight back and sides do not radiate as much heat into the room. [Illustration: Fig. 16.--This construction without a throat damper directs the down draft so that it meets the up draft almost at the throat, which is more faulty than the construction shown in fig. 15, for there the lid of the damper deflects the down current.] THE THROAT DAMPER. A properly designed throat damper affords a means of regulating the fire. The damper consists of a cast-iron frame with a lid hinged preferably at the back so that the width of the throat opening may be varied from nothing to 6 inches. There are a number of patterns on the market, some of which are designed to support the masonry over the fireplace opening. A roaring pine fire requires a full throat opening, but slow-burning hardwood logs require but 1 or 2 inches of opening. Regulating the opening according to the kind of fire prevents waste of heat up the chimney. Closing the opening completely in summer keeps flies, mosquitoes, and other insects from entering the house by way of the chimney. In houses heated by furnaces or other modern systems fireplaces without throat dampers interfere with even heating, particularly in very cold weather. An open fire must be supplied with air and the larger the fire the greater the quantity required; a fireplace with a width of 5 feet or more may pull air from distant parts of the house. This air that is heated at the expenditure of fuel in the furnace is carried up the chimney and wasted, but with a throat damper open only 1 or 2 inches a slow fire of hardwood can be kept going without smoking the room, thus reducing materially the waste of hot air. [Illustration: Fig. 17.--Smoke dampers with lids hinged in the center do not turn the up draft as well as do those hinged at the rear side.] PLACING THE THROAT DAMPER. The throat damper should be as wide as the fireplace, so the side walls should not be drawn in until after the throat is passed. Smoke dampers with lid hinged at the back will help the smoke shelf to turn the down draft; if the lid is hinged in the center the downward and upward currents are apt to conflict. The placing of the damper varies with the type, but generally the bottom of the frame is built into the brickwork at the level of the top of the fireplace opening, forming the throat and supporting the masonry above it. SIZE OF FIREPLACE OPENING. Pleasing proportions in the fireplace opening are desirable. The width should generally be greater than the height, but as 30 inches is about the minimum height consistent with convenience in tending the fire, a narrow opening may be made square. Three feet and a half is a good maximum for height of opening unless the fireplace is over 6 feet wide. The higher the opening the greater the chance of a smoky fireplace. A fireplace should be in harmony with the rest of the room in proportions and details. This consideration and the kind of fuel to be used largely determine the size of opening. Generally speaking the day of large farmhouse fireplaces capable of receiving cordwood is past. The tending of fires usually falls to the housewife, and cordwood is a heavier weight than she should handle and can not be stored near at hand. Cordwood cut in two is easily handled; so that a 30-inch width is about the minimum for farmhouses where wood is used for fuel. If coal is burned the opening may be made narrower. DEPTH OF FIREPLACE OPENING. Unless a fireplace with a 6-foot opening is made fully 28 inches deep, in order that large logs will lie well inside, the advantage of the wide opening is lost, for the logs will have to be split. A shallow opening throws out more heat than a deep one of the same width, but can take only sticks of smaller diameter; thus it becomes a question of preference between the greater depth which permits of large logs that burn longer and require less frequent replenishing and the shallower which takes lighter sticks and throws more heat. In small fireplaces a depth of 12 inches will permit good draft if the throat is constructed as explained above, but a minimum depth of 18 inches is advised, to lessen the danger of brands falling out on the floor. Wire guards should be placed in front of all fireplaces. In general, the wider the opening the greater should be the depth. THE HEARTH. The hearth should be flush with the floor, for sweepings may then be brushed into the fireplace. An ash dump located in the hearth near the back of the fireplace is convenient for clearing ashes and other refuse from the hearth provided there is space below for an ash pit. The dump consists of a cast-iron metal frame, with pivoted cover, through which the refuse can be brushed into the ash pit below. The ash pit should be of perfectly tight masonry and provided with a tightly fitting cleanout door. If a warm-air flue, as described on page 27, is provided, the ash dump will have to be located near one side of the hearth instead of in the center. THE JAMBS. The jambs of the fireplace should be of sufficient width to give stability to the structure both actually and in appearance. For a fireplace opening 3 feet wide or less, 16 inches is generally sufficient; for wider openings similar proportions should be kept. Greater widths may be required to harmonize with the proportions of the rooms, and the above should be taken as a minimum. FIREPLACE BACK AND SIDES. The back and sides of the fireplace should be constructed of firebrick only. The bricks should be laid flat with the long sides exposed, for if placed with the face exposed there is danger of their falling out. SUPPORTING IRONS. In small fireplaces sagging of the arch over the opening seldom occurs, but in fireplaces over 4 feet wide it is not uncommon. It is due to insufficient support of the masonry. Except in massive construction there generally is not sufficient masonry at the sides of the opening to resist the thrust of arch construction; hence it is usual to support the masonry with iron, which, if too light, will sag. Too small an iron will become so hot that its tensile strength is lowered until it bends. A heavy flat bar at least one-half inch thick is sometimes used or a T-bar which has greater strength, but less metal; the wider the opening the heavier the bar required. IMPROVING FIREPLACE HEATING. A number of patents have been obtained for improvements in fireplace heating. Most of them, depending on the fact that hot air rises, deliver air heated in or around the fireplace through a register, located above the fire, into the upper part of the room, which is always the warmest part. Furthermore, they require a specially built chimney, precluding the installation of such a device in an existing fireplace. Unless fresh outside air is supplied there is no improvement in the warming of the room. Patent No. 1251916, issued to Joseph Parsons, of Lakeville, Conn., and by him assigned to the United States Government, presents means of greatly increasing the efficiency of fireplace heating. The inventor's claim differs from other claims for improving fireplace heating in that the operation of his device depends upon the suction created in the chimney by the hot air rising from the fireplace and therefore makes possible the delivery of heated air through a register located at any place in the room or at the hearth. Furthermore, it permits of installation of one of the simpler types in an existing chimney. For a fire to burn it must be supplied with oxygen. If a fire were built in a fireplace in an air-tight room it would go out as soon as the oxygen present had been consumed unless a down draft in the chimney supplied the needed air. As our fireplace fires do not go out so long as they are fed with fuel it is obvious that the required air supply is obtained from somewhere. Any one who has depended upon a fireplace to heat a room knows that the part of the room farthest from the fire is the coldest and that the temperature around the windows is especially low. In fact the harder the fire burns the colder it is at the windows. The fire must have air, and as cracks exist around windows and doors the air enters through them. The volume entering is equal to that passing up the chimney. This air comes from outside at a low temperature. Figure 18 illustrates how a fireplace fire supplies its needs. When it grows colder outside a bigger fire is made. The bigger the blaze the greater the quantity of outside air drawn into the room through every crack and crevice until, when the outside temperature gets below the freezing point, there is no comfort in the room beyond the immediate vicinity of the fire. [Illustration: Fig. 18.--All air required for feeding the fire must pass through the room, entering through cracks around windows and doors and producing an uncomfortable temperature in all parts of the room except near the hearth.] If a room were so tight that the air leakage were insufficient to supply a fireplace fire, it would not burn properly and would smoke. If a pane of glass were removed from a window cold air would rush in through the opening. If the glass were replaced and an opening of equal area be made through the chimney, as shown in figures 19, A and B, so that air could be admitted into the room as indicated by the arrows in the plan, figure 19-B, an equal volume of cold air would be drawn through this opening. As it comes into contact with the metal form the air becomes heated, so that when delivered into the room its temperature would be 100 degrees or higher, depending upon the radiating surface of the hearth, assuming an outside temperature of 32 degrees. (Tests by the writer have shown this temperature to be higher than 125 degrees.) If the chimney opening be closed and the pane of glass be again removed the temperature of the air entering through the window would be 32 degrees. It is obvious that the room will be more effectually heated when the air required for combustion is supplied at a high temperature than when supplied through cracks and crevices at a low temperature. All our homes should be made fairly tight for greater comfort in winter. In such a house, with doors and windows closed, the suction caused by the fire can thus be utilized to draw into the room outside air heated in passing through a metal flue on which the fire is burning. The principle may be applied in various forms. Figure 19-A illustrates a simple form for use in connection with an outside chimney. A piece of galvanized sheet iron is bent to the proper form and set into the fireplace so as to leave an air space between it and the back and sides of the fireplace. An opening to the outside is made by removing two or three courses of brick. Air enters through this, becomes heated by contact with the metal, and is delivered into the room at the sides of the fireplace, as indicated in the plan of figure 19-B. It immediately rises within the room, gives up part of its heat, and eventually whirls about and into the fire, as indicated by the arrows in figure 19-A. This form would not necessarily heat the entire room effectually; it would, however, supply heated air for the fire in volume sufficient to replace or materially reduce the quantity of cold air which would otherwise enter through window and door cracks. With a brisk fire burning, a rush of warm air can be felt 6 or 8 feet away from the fireplace. [Illustration: PERSPECTIVE] [Illustration: Fig. 19.--Simple form of warm-air flue for outside chimney. Air required for feeding the fire is brought in from the outside around a metal form set in the fireplace, with a space between it and the back and sides of the brickwork. As the cold outside air passes around the metal it becomes heated and is delivered into the room at a temperature much higher than where it is pulled in through window and door cracks. The result is a much more comfortable room.] This simple form may be built as follows: A piece of roofing tin about 6 inches wider than the height of the fireplace opening, with length equal to the width of the opening plus twice the depth of the side, should be secured. It should then be marked and cut as indicated in the form (fig. 19-B), and bent into a shape similar to that shown in the perspective, same figure. When placing it, there should be a space left between the tin and the brickwork at both back and top. The back and sides at the top should be bent back 2 inches to meet the brickwork. The crack or joint should be tightly closed with asbestos or furnace cement. The tin form rests on the 4-inch bottom flange. The joint here can be made tight by placing a few brick on the flange and covering with ashes, or a metal plate cut to the proper shape may be laid upon and preferably riveted to the lower flanges of the back and sides. The form should be as high as the opening and the metal sides should project about 3 inches beyond the jambs, so as to throw the heated air well out into the room. A one-fourth-inch rod placed across the top of the tin form directly under the arch iron of the fireplace assists in holding the top of the tin firmly against the brickwork. [Illustration: Fig. 20.--Simple form of warm-air flue for inside chimney.] [Illustration: Fig. 21.--Improved form of warm-air flue for Inside chimney. The increased radiating surface obtained by conducting the metal flue up the back of the fireplace heats the air to a higher temperature so that it is delivered into the room farther from the outlet duct.] Figure 20 shows a simple form for use with an inside chimney. A hole may be cut in the hearth on one side and connected with the outside by means of a passage through the chimney foundation. The manner of providing this passage will depend upon the construction in the particular case. A galvanized sheet-metal box with a division plate extending part way through it is set on the hearth. The side over the opening is bent down in front, as at A, so that the entering cold air must pass to the rear around the division plate and then out into the room in front of the hearth, as at B. The fire, on top of the metal flue, heats the air issuing at B as it flows under it. Figure 21 shows an improved form in which the flue and division plate are extended up the back of the fireplace. This presents considerably more radiating surface, so that the air can be heated to a higher temperature. The air issuing from this flue at B is discharged farther out into the room. If there is a cellar under the floor a metal duct must be employed to bring fresh air from an opening in the outside wall, just below the joists, to the hole in the hearth. Cellar air should never be sucked through the flue. All openings under the house or through the wall should be screened to keep out rats and mice, and doors should be provided to close the openings entirely if desired. [Illustration: Fig. 22.--Improved form of warm-air flue with floor register. This method increases the efficiency of fireplaces many times by delivering the air that must be supplied to the fire into the room at temperatures of 100° and higher, depending upon the form and extent of the heating surface at the back of the fireplace, and delivering it to the coldest part of the room so that heat is distributed more effectively and the entrance of cold air around windows and doors is reduced to a minimum.] Figure 22 shows a more elaborate installation. This insures very satisfactory heating with a fireplace fire. The piece A B C D of galvanized metal has a rectangular cross section. Two or three courses of brickwork are omitted and the metal duct is set into the fireplace, so that radiation from the fire impinges upon its surface from B to D. The air entering from outside at AE is heated as it passes through the flue behind and under the fire and is carried through another rectangular duct under the floor to a register located in a far part of the room. Out of this register air in large volume is discharged at a high temperature. This air heats the far part of the room and other parts as it travels from the register upward and through the room to the fireplace. Thus the fireplace heats the room by convection of heat as well as by radiation, and all parts of the room are more comfortable than if radiation alone were depended upon. A test of an installation similar to that shown in figure 22 was made by the writer. The fireplace and suction flue were built in a cabin measuring 24 feet square by 9 feet high. The test was conducted late in November on a night when the outside temperature was 24° F. It was the first fire built in the fireplace in that season, consequently all the materials of the building were cold. The room was practically air-tight; very little leakage could be felt around the windows. A temperature of slightly over 100° was recorded directly over the register, in the center of the room it was 72°, and in the farthest corner a thermometer, hung about 18 inches from the wall between two windows, showed 65°. Thus the efficiency of fireplaces may be materially increased, the degree depending upon the character of the air duct installed. Even in the simple types the air required to make the fire burn enters the room at a higher temperature at the floor instead of around windows and doors at a low temperature; windows and doors may therefore be made tight, so as to reduce the cold-air leakage. The type with a register in the far part of the room supplies heat to parts of the room or to an adjoining room, which would receive little heat if radiation only were relied upon. This means of improving fireplace heating is particularly adapted to small houses in the South, where the open fire is the most common method of house heating. As the simple types require only galvanized Sheet metal bent at right angles, it is within the means and ability of many to supply themselves with flues of their own making. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1921 Transcriber Note Illustrations were moved so as not to split paragraphs. Hyphenization has been standardized to the most common form. 
48378	----	at The Internet Archive (https:/archive.org). Transcriber note Text emphasis is displayed as: _Italic_ and =Bold=. In most tables and where numbers with fractions are used for sizing items, the symbols ¼, ½, and ¾ were used. Otherwise, whole and fractional numbers are displayed as 1-5/8 FIREPLACES and CHIMNEYS FARMERS' BULLETIN NO. 1889 U.S. DEPARTMENT of AGRICULTURE THAT THE WORD "HEARTH" is synonymous with "home" in many languages is not surprising since much of the enjoyment of home and camp life centers about an open fire. In mild climates a properly built fireplace will heat a single room, and when equipped with a convection heater will also heat a second room on the same floor or an upper floor. In colder climates it is a useful adjunct to other heating systems if provided with a damper. This bulletin is intended to give the householder and prospective builder, especially the farmer who might superintend the construction of his home, a working knowledge of the principles to be observed in planning and building fireplaces and chimneys. These principles, if observed, will make the structures useful and satisfactory and insure their safety. Safe fireplaces and chimneys that function properly can be built by applying the principles given in this bulletin, but a good chimney will not last indefinitely without proper care and repair. Fireplaces and chimneys, being conspicuous architectural features, should be pleasing in appearance and conform with the general design of the building and its surroundings. This bulletin supersedes Farmers' Bulletin 1649, Construction of Chimneys and Fireplaces. Washington, D. C. Issued December, 1941 FIREPLACES AND CHIMNEYS By Arthur H. Senner, _mechanical engineer, and_ Thomas A. H. Miller, _agricultural engineer. Division of Farm Structure Research, Bureau of Agricultural Chemistry and Engineering_ CONTENTS Page Chimneys 2 Design 2 Construction 7 Estimating brick 18 Smoke test 18 Cleaning and repairing flues 19 Fireplaces 22 Characteristics 22 Modified fireplaces 24 Selecting a fireplace 27 Construction 34 Dimensions 35 Cost estimate 43 Smoky fireplaces 45 Outdoor fireplaces 46 Types 47 Obtaining plans 48 Construction 48 Operation 51 Barbecue pits 51 Dutch ovens 51 FIREPLACES AND CHIMNEYS should provide a safe place for an open fire and a flue for draft to expel smoke from the fire passage to the open air. They must be properly designed and constructed (fig. 1) if good performance and protection against fire are to be obtained. [Illustration: Figure 1.--A properly designed and well-built chimney that provides ample draft and protection against fire.] CHIMNEYS DESIGN Solid masonry is the most satisfactory and safest material to use for chimneys and fireplaces. If a chimney fire occurs, the safety of the building may be dependent on the soundness of the flue walls (fig. 2). Cracked and leaky flues not only are inefficient, destroying the draft as well as permitting smoke and gases to pass into adjacent rooms, but are a dangerous fire hazard. The chimney as known today was developed about 600 years ago. Experience has shown that the satisfactory performance of a chimney flue is determined by its size, direction, shape, height, tightness, and smoothness. Draft The draft of a chimney is the current of air created by the difference in pressure resulting from variation in weight between the relatively hot gases in the flue and the cooler outside air. The strength or intensity of the draft depends, for the most part, on the height of the chimney, and the temperature difference between the chimney gases and the outside atmosphere. The draft is not so good in summer as in winter because the difference in temperature between the outside air and the gases in the flue is less. A very common error in chimney design is failure to distinguish between the size of the flue required for free passage of the volume of smoke from a given amount of fuel and that which, with proper height, will produce the required draft. A chimney may be high enough (fig. 3), yet have an area too small to expel the volume of smoke; or the size may be ample (fig. 4) but the height not great enough to produce a strong draft. Either fault or a combination of the two will result in unsatisfactory service. Flue Sites The dimensions of a flue for adequate draft depend principally on the grate area and type of heating plant 1 and on the kind of fuel to be burned, both of which should be determined before construction is begun. If a chimney is found to be inadequate the only method of improving it, short of reconstruction, is to increase its height. This is not always effective and is often impracticable. Table 1 gives the sizes of fire-clay flue linings ordinarily provided for boilers, furnaces, stoves, or convection heaters burning soft coal. These sizes have proved satisfactory for average flat-grate furnaces under normal conditions. Manufacturers of heating equipment usually specify certain requirements in chimney construction and will not guarantee the performance of their heaters unless these requirements are met. Therefore their recommendations should be followed when differing materially from the dimensions given in this bulletin. Height of Chimney A chimney should extend at least 3 feet above flat roofs and 2 feet above the ridge of peak roofs. Where chimneys cannot be built high enough above the ridge to prevent trouble from eddies caused by wind being deflected from the roof, a hood may be provided with the open ends parallel to the ridge. Eddies which force air down the flues may be caused by building the chimney too near trees (fig. 5, _B_) or a higher structure (fig. 6). [1] Farmers' Bulletin 1698, Heating the Farm Home, contains information on estimating the size of the heating plant needed for houses of different sizes and for determining grate areas. [Illustration: Figure 2.--Heavy masonry chimneys of this type are still being built in rural areas. The thick walls, with unlined flues, are in good condition after 75 years of continuous use.] Table 1.--_Sizes of flue linings and heights of chimneys recommended for flat-grate furnaces burning soft coal_[A] Nominal size of flue lining --------------------------------------------------- Height of Grate Round (inside chimney top area diameter) Rectangular (outside above grate (Sq. at elevation dimensions) at elevation at elevation ft.) indicated indicated indicated - ---------------- -------------------------------------- -------------- SL 2K 4K 6K Sea Level 2,000 ft 4,000 ft 6,000 ft SL 2K 4K 6K - ---------------- -------------------------------------- -------------- In In In In In In In In Ft Ft Ft Ft 1 8 8 8 10 8½ by 8½ 8½ by 8½ 8½ by 8½ 8½ by 13 22 26 32 36 2 10 10 10 10 8½ by 13 8½ by 13 8½ by 13 8½ by 13 24 29 35 41 3 10 10 12 12 8½ by 13 8½ by 13 13 by 13 13 by 13 26 33 41 49 4 12 12 12 12 13 by 13 13 by 13 13 by 13 13 by 13 30 37 45 49 5 12 12 15 15 13 by 13 13 by 13 13 by 18 18 by 18 32 37 43 52 6 15 18 18 18 18 by 18 18 by 18 20 by 20 20 by 20 30 37 47 56 7 18 18 18 18 20 by 20 20 by 20 20 by 20 20 by 20 32 41 49 64 8 18 18 18 18 20 by 20 20 by 20 20 by 20 20 by 20 35 42 56 10 [A] If anthracite is to be burned the area of the flue cross section may be reduced about 25 percent. The ratings given are based on comparatively smooth lined flues with no offsets greater than 30° with the vertical. The smallest sizes of fuels require excessive drafts and may necessitate taller chimneys. Flue heights and sizes are based upon approximately the several altitudes indicated; it is sufficiently accurate to use the column giving the altitude nearest to that of the particular problem. When 2 or 3 appliances are connected to the same flue their total grate area may be reduced 15 percent. The method of determining the proper flue size for an altitude of 2,000 feet, when 1 appliance with a grate area of 3 square feet and another with an area of 1.5 square feet are attached to the same flue, is shown by the following example: Add the 2 grate areas, 3 + 1.5 = 4.5 square feet. Reduce this total area by 15 percent. Thus, 4.5 - 0.68 = 3.8 square feet is the required area. Use the nearest whole number, 4. From the table it is seen that for a grate area of 4 square feet at an elevation of 2,000 feet either a 12-inch (inside diameter) round flue or a 13- by 13-inch (outside dimensions) rectangular flue 37 feet high is required. [Illustration: Figure 3.--This tall chimney produced good draft for the kitchen range, but the flue was too small for a furnace. When the house was remodeled, its appearance was greatly improved by building the chimney inside.] [Illustration: Figure 4.--Short chimneys are frequently provided for low bungalows, for architectural reasons. This flue is ample in size but not high enough for use with a stove. The stone masonry has been laid to harmonize with the rustic surroundings.] Frequently metal-pipe extensions are provided to increase the height of a flue on account of the low cost and ease of installation, but these must be securely anchored against wind and have the same area as the flue. Metal extensions are likely to rust in a short time. They are available with a metal cowl or top that turns with the wind to prevent air blowing down the flue. Terra-cotta chimney pots or extensions are more durable and attractive. A chimney located entirely inside a building has better draft because the masonry retains heat longer when protected from cold outside air. [Illustration: Figure 5.--Two pleasingly designed fireplace chimneys that fit into their surroundings. _A_, This chimney stands in the clear and should provide a good draft; _B_, a chimney under overhanging trees is likely to backdraft. Contrast the appearance of these two chimneys with that of figure 3.] [Illustration: Figure 6.--Several extensions were necessary before this chimney would draw properly on account of the wind deflected from the nearby wall.] [Illustration: Figure 7.--_A_, A good foundation extending below the soil affected by frost. This chimney is well protected from ground moisture by the concrete carried above the surface; _B_, an insecure foundation. Supporting a chimney in this manner is a dangerous practice.] CONSTRUCTION =Supporting the Chimney= Stable foundations, preferably of concrete, should be provided, at least 6 inches wider all around than the chimney and 8 inches thick for one-story and 12 inches thick for two-story houses. When there is no basement or cellar (fig. 7, _A_), start the foundation of an exterior chimney well below the frost line; otherwise, extend the base to the same level as the bottom of the foundation of the building. Foundations for tall, heavy chimneys require special consideration. Where the wall of the house is of solid masonry 12 inches or more thick, the chimney may be offset and carried on corbels or masonry brackets instead of being carried down to the ground. The offset should not extend more than 8 inches from the face of the wall, each course projecting not more than 1 inch, and should not be less than 12 inches high. Often the corbeling is started at the second- or third-floor level so that the chimney is only one or two stories high. [Illustration: Figure 8.--For structural safety the amount of offset must be limited so that the center line, XY, of the upper flue will not fall beyond the center of the wall of the lower flue. _A_, Offsetting of the left wall of an unlined flue is started two brick courses higher than on the right wall so that the area of the sloping section will not be reduced after plastering; _B_, a lined flue showing the method of cutting the tile.] Chimneys in frame buildings should be built from the ground up or should rest on the foundation or basement walls if of solid masonry 12 inches or more thick. A chimney resting on or carried by wooden floors, beams, or brackets or hung from wooden rafters (fig. 7, _B_) is a fire hazard. Wood framing shrinks, and beams supporting heavy loads deflect in time. Sagging beams injure the walls and ceilings of the house and are apt to crack the chimney, rendering it dangerous. =Flue Linings= Although, to save expense, chimneys are built without flue lining, those with linings are more efficient. When the flue is not lined, the mortar and bricks directly exposed to the action of fuel gases disintegrate. This disintegration and that occurring from changes in temperature frequently cause cracks in the masonry, thereby reducing the draft. An unlined chimney is best if not plastered except at the sloped section (fig. 8, _A_). However, the vertical and horizontal joints should be filled with mortar and struck smooth and flush with the wall. Offsets or bends in flues (fig. 8) should not be greater than 30° with the vertical. This slope can be obtained by offsetting or corbeling each brick course only 1 inch. Flue lining must withstand rapid fluctuations in temperature and be resistant to the action of ordinary flue gases. The shapes used as flue lining should be of fire-clay, with shells not less than five-eighths of an inch thick, and should be vitrified. As a safeguard against over-burning and brittleness, the lining should be tested by submersion in water at room temperature for 24 hours, during which a quantity of water weighing more than 3 percent of the dry weight of the lining should not be absorbed. Place each length of flue lining in position, setting it in cement mortar with the joint struck smooth on the inside, and then lay the brick around it. If the lining is slipped down after several courses of brick have been laid, the joints cannot be filled and leakage is almost sure to result. Fill any spaces between the lining and the brickwork completely with mortar, especially if the round type of flue is used. The lower section of flue lining, unless resting on solid masonry at the bottom of the flue, should be supported on at least three sides by brick courses projecting to the inside surface of the lining. When laying brick and lining, it is advisable to draw up a tight-fitting bag of straw as the work progresses so as to catch material that might fall and block the flue. Where offsets or bends are necessary in lined flues, tight joints can be made by mitering or cutting equally the ends of abutting sections (fig. 8, _B_). This can be done if a cement sack of damp sand is stuffed firmly into the lining and a sharp chisel is tapped with a light hammer along the line where the cut is desired. If the cutting is done after the lining is built into the chimney, the lining may be broken and fall out of place. The hole for the thimble can be cut the same way when a special thimble section is not used. The linings commonly used are rectangular or round. Rectangular linings are better adapted to brick construction than round linings, but the latter are considered more efficient. The sizes commonly used are indicated in table 2. =Wall Thickness= Walls of chimneys not more than 30 feet high when lined should be 4 inches thick if of brick and reinforced concrete, 8 inches if of hollow building units, and 12 inches if of stone. Linings may be omitted in chimneys having walls of reinforced concrete at least 6 inches thick or of unreinforced concrete or brick at least 8 inches thick, although lining is desirable in the case of brick construction. Also the outside wall of a chimney exposed to the weather is best made at least 8 inches thick. In chimneys containing three or more flues, building codes generally require that each group of two flues be separated from the other single flue or group of two flues by brick divisions or withes not less than 3¾ inches wide (fig. 9) . Where two flues are grouped without divisions, joints in the linings of adjacent flues are safer if staggered at least 7 inches, and particular care should be taken to have all joints filled with mortar. Individual flues are advisable for fireplaces and heating furnaces or boilers. Table 2.--_Dimensions of commonly used standard commercial flue lining_ Rectangular linings[B] Outside Cross-sectional area Wall dimensions --------------------- thickness (inches) Inside Outside ----------- ---------- -------- ---------- Square Square inches feet Inches 4½ by 8½ 23.6 0.26 5/8 4½ by 13 38.2 .41 5/8 7½ by 7½ 39.1 .39 5/8 8½ by 8½ 52.6 .50 5/8 8½ by 13 80.5 .78 3/4 8½ by 18 109.7 1.10 7/8 13 by 13 126.6 1.20 7/8 13 by 18 182.8 1.70 7/8 18 by 18 248.1 2.30 1-1/8 20 by 20 297.6 2.60 1-3/8 Round linings[C] Inside Cross-sectional area Wall diameter --------------------- thickness (inches) Inside Outside ----------- ---------- -------- ---------- Square Square inches feet Inches 6 28.3 0.29 5/8 8 50.3 .49 3/4 10 78.5 .75 7/8 12 113.0 1.07 1 15 176.7 1.62 1-1/8 18 254.4 2.29 1-1/4 20 314.1 2.82 1-3/8 22 380.1 3.48 1-5/8 24 452.3 4.05 1-5/8 27 572.5 5.20 2 [B] All rectangular flue lining is 2 feet long. [C] Round flue lining, 6 to 24 inches in diameter, is 2 feet long; that 27 to 36 inches in diameter is 2½ or 3 feet long. [Illustration: Figure 9.--Cross section of chimney showing the proper arrangement for three flues. The division wall should be well bonded with the side walls by staggering the joints of successive courses. Note the studs are kept 2 inches away from the brickwork for reasons explained on page 14.] When two or more flues are used in unlined chimneys, they must be separated by well-bonded withes 8 niches thick. An attractive and effective method of separating unlined flues in colonial times is shown in figure 10. Chimneys extending above the roof are exposed to the wind and may sway enough during a gale to open up the mortar joints at the roof line. Openings in a flue at this point are especially dangerous because sparks from the flue may come in contact with the woodwork of the roof. It is therefore good practice to make the upper walls 8 inches thick (fig. 11) by starting to offset the bricks just below the intersection with the roof. The brickwork around all fireplaces and flues should be laid with cement mortar, as it is more resistant than lime mortar to the action of heat and flue gases. A good mortar to use in setting flue linings and all chimney masonry, except firebrick, consists of 1 part portland cement, 1 part hydrated lime, and 6 parts clean sand, measured by volume. Slacked-lime putty may be used in place of hydrated lime; firebrick is best laid in fire-clay. [Illustration: Figure 10.--This Williamsburg chimney shows the pains taken to make the chimney attractive. The three flues are arranged as a T with well-bonded withes between them. Often four flues were used in the form of a cross.] _Openings Into the Chimney_ No range, stove, fireplace, or ventilating register should be connected with the flue being used for the heating apparatus because this is a frequent cause of unsatisfactory operation. Fires may occur from sparks passing into one flue opening and out through another where there are two connections to the same flue. If an abandoned fireplace chimney is to be used for a range or stove, close the fireplace flue tight about a foot below the smoke pipe hole. [Illustration: Figure 11.--Greater resistance to the weather is provided by building the exposed upper section of a chimney with 8-inch walls. Also the mortar joint, in which the counter-flashing is embedded, is not so likely to fail as it is when the wall is only 4 inches thick.] Gas-fired house heaters and built-in unit heaters, if not connected to a masonry chimney, may be connected to flues of corrosion-resistant sheet metal not lighter than 20-gage, properly insulated with asbestos or other fireproofing material that will comply with the recommendations of the Underwriter's Laboratories, Inc. Such flues should extend through the roof. A soot pocket[2] is desirable for each flue. Deep pockets permit the accumulation of soot, which may take fire; therefore start them from a point preferably not more than 8 inches below the center line of the smoke pipe intake and fill the lower part of the chimney with solid masonry instead of extending the pocket to the base of the chimney as is often done. Clean-out doors are necessary at the bottom of deep pockets and, if used, must fit snugly and be kept tightly closed so that air cannot get in. Clean-outs should serve only one flue, for if two or more flues are connected with the same clean-out, air drawn from one to another affects the draft in all of them. Sometimes a door is placed just below the smoke pipe, but one is not really necessary since the pipe, if taken down each year for cleaning, allows removal of soot from shallow pockets through the pipe hole. [2] See soot pockets and clean-out doors in figures 12 and 35, pp. 13 and 38, respectively. Close pipe holes, when temporarily not in use, with tight-fitting metal flue stops; but, if a pipe hole is to be abandoned, fill it with bricks laid in good mortar. This stopping can be readily removed. The practice of closing a pipe hole with papered tin is dangerous, for if there is another stove connected with the flue, the metal may become hot enough to scorch the unprotected wallpaper or even set it afire. Proper care in setting and looking after pipe at its connection with the chimney will greatly lessen the number of fires chargeable to defective construction. Fit the pipe so that no opening will be left around it, and keep it from projecting into the flue. The connection can be made airtight with a closely fitting collar and boiler putty, good cement mortar, or stiff clay. Smoke pipes should enter the chimney horizontally, and the hole through the chimney wall to the flue should be lined with fire-clay, or metal thimbles should be securely and tightly built in the masonry. Thimbles or flue rings can be had of 6-, 7-, 8-, 10-, and 12-inch diameters and 6-, 9-, and 12-inch lengths. If the walls are furred (fig. 12), the space between the thimbles and the wood furring should be covered with metal lath and plaster. [Illustration: Figure 12.--_A_, Connection to chimney where furring is used. The brick are built out around the thimble as a protection against its cracking. This is a fire hazard that is frequently overlooked. _B_, Connection when plaster is applied directly to the masonry. Note that the pipe extends too far into the flue. It should be as shown in _A_.] When a smoke pipe is less than 18 inches from woodwork, the woodwork requires protection against charring. A metal casing or asbestos board 2 inches from the upper half of the pipe is sometimes employed to protect woodwork directly above it. A pipe, even so protected, should never be closer than 9 inches to any woodwork or other combustible material. Commercial fireproof pipe coverings can be purchased. If a pipe must be carried through a wood partition, protection for the woodwork can be provided by cutting an opening in the partition and inserting a galvanized-iron double-wall ventilating shield at least 12 inches larger than the pipe (fig. 13) or by using at least 4 inches of brickwork or other incombustible material. Smoke pipes should never pass through floors, closets, or concealed spaces or enter a chimney in a garret. Gases formed by burning the sulfur contained in coal are the main cause of corrosion of metal smoke pipes. Little corrosion occurs during the heating season, when the pipe is kept hot and dry. The life of metal pipes can be prolonged if each summer when they are not in use they are taken down, cleaned, wrapped in paper, and stored in a dry place. This is especially true of pipe to heaters in damp cellars. [Illustration: Figure 13.--_A_, Elevation of protection around a stovepipe passing through a frame partition; _B_, sectional view.] [Illustration: Figure 14.--Method of insulating wood floor joists and baseboard at a chimney with 4-inch walls. A single header is used as it is less than 4 feet long.] _Insulation_ No wood should be in contact with a chimney. Leave a space of 2 inches between the outside face of a chimney and all wooden beams or joists except when 8 inches of masonry is used outside flue lining, in which case the framing may be within one-half inch of the chimney masonry. The space between the floor framing and the chimney may be filled with porous, nonmetallic, incombustible material, such as loose cinders. Brickwork, mortar, and concrete are not suitable. Place the filling before the floor is laid, as it not only forms a fire stop but prevents accumulation of shavings or other combustible material. Subflooring may be laid within one-half inch of the masonry. Baseboards, when fastened to plaster that is directly in contact with the wall of a chimney, can be protected by a layer of fireproof material, such as asbestos, at least one-eighth of an inch thick between the woodwork and the plaster (fig. 14). Wooden studding, furring, or lathing should not be placed against a chimney but set back, as indicated in figure 9; or the plaster may be applied directly to the masonry or to metal lath laid over the masonry. The former is the better method, as settlement will not crack the plaster. It is recommended that a coat of cement plaster be applied directly upon the outside surfaces of masonry chimneys that are to be incased by a wooden partition or other combustible construction. Metal lath, lapped 6 inches on the masonry, at the intersection of chimneys with partitions prevents corner cracks. (See plan in fig. 34.) _Chimney and Roof Connection_ Where the chimney passes through the roof, provide a 2-inch clearance between the wood framing and masonry for fire protection and for expansion due to temperature changes, settlement, or slight movement of the chimney during heavy winds. [Illustration: Figure 15.--Method of flashing. Sheet metal, _h_, over the cricket, extends under the shingles _k_, at least 4 inches and is counter-flashed at _l_ in joint. Base flashings _b_, _c_, _d_, and _e_ and cap flashings _a_, _f_, and _g_ lap over the base flashings and provide watertight construction. A full bed of mortar should be provided where cap flashing is inserted in joints.] A chimney must be flashed and counter-flashed (fig. 15),[3] to make its junction with the roof watertight. When the chimney is not located on the ridge but on a sloping roof, a cricket, _j_, is built, as detailed in figure 16, high enough to shed water around the chimney. Corrosion-resistant metal, such as copper, galvanized metal, zinc, or lead, is best for the flashing and counter-flashing. When tin is used, paint it well on both sides. [3] See p. 26, Farmers' Bulletin 1751, Roof Coverings for Farm Buildings and Their Repair, for method of installing flashing. A feature, said to have originated in colonial Williamsburg as a precaution against fire hazard, is to build the upper section of outside chimneys 18 inches to 2 feet away from the gable ends of the house (fig. 17). This is not only a safety factor but a practical one because the chimney can be more easily flashed, small windows can be used in the walls of upper story rooms behind the chimney, and framing the roof is simplified. _Capping the Chimney_ Various methods of terminating chimneys are shown in figures 11 and 18. Whatever one is used should be architecturally acceptable, effective in preventing disintegration, and so made as to keep water out of the flue. [Illustration: Figure 16.--Cricket, _j_, as seen from the back of the chimney shown in figure 15. A section through the cricket is also shown. Note how counter-flashing is built into the mortar joint at _l_.] It is advisable to project the flue lining 4 inches above the cap or top course of brick and surround it with at least 2 inches of cement mortar finished with a straight or concave slope to direct air currents upward at the top of the flue; the sloped mortar also serves to drain water from the top of the chimney. (See fig. 11.) Hoods are commonly used to keep rain out of a chimney (fig. 18, _A_ and _B_). The area of the hood openings should be at least equal to the area of the flue and each flue should have a separate hood. Concrete and brick caps are usually made 4 inches thick, and it is advisable to project them an inch or two to form a drip ledge. Many of the chimneys built today are unsightly and frequently detract from an otherwise well-designed house. Within the last 100 years the size and attractiveness of chimneys ordinarily built has declined. The large old chimneys of colonial days were proportioned to suit the house and surroundings and at the same time provide for two or more large fireplaces. With reduction in the size of fireplaces and the substitution of several stoves and eventually one central heating plant, the chimney has developed into a merely utilitarian shaft. [Illustration: Figure 17.--A house in southern Maryland in which the space between the chimney and the house wall shows clearly. The practice of building the chimney in this way is common in the tidewater section of the South.] Spark Arresters Spark arresters are desirable and, where chimneys are near combustible roofs, lumber, forests, etc., they are sometimes required, depending on the kind of fuel, waste materials, or refuse that may be burned and the amount of deposits that may accumulate in the flues. While arresters cannot be depended on to eliminate entirely the discharge of sparks under all conditions; yet, when properly built and installed, they materially reduce spark hazard.[4] [4] See Standards for Construction and Installation of Spark Arresters for Chimneys and Stacks, published by the National Fire Protection Association. In general all parts, whether of wire, expanded metal, or perforated sheets, give longer service if they are of rust-resistant material. Arresters for domestic purposes should have vertical sides extending upward not less than 9 inches so as to provide a gross area of surface at least twice the net flue area. They should be kept outside of the flue area and be securely anchored to the chimney top. Openings in the screen not larger than five-eights of an inch nor smaller than five-sixteenths of an inch are advisable. Commercially made screens can be purchased which generally last several years. Arresters must be kept adjusted in position and renewed when the openings are worn larger than the normal screen openings. [Illustration: Figure 18.--_A_, A common type of arched hood; _B_, flat stone hood; note the withe separating the two flues.] ESTIMATING BRICK The number of standard-size brick (8 by 3¾ by 2¼ inches) required to build a straight chimney having only two or three flues can be estimated by drawing the flue lining to scale and then drawing lines 4 inches to 8 inches outside of the lining depending on the thickness of the brick walls. Lay out 4- by 8-inch rectangles in the space between the lining and the outside lines to determine how many brick are needed per course. For example, 15½ brick are needed for each course of the chimney in figure 9. Assuming the height is 30 feet and one-half-inch mortar joints are used, also that there are 4½ courses per foot, there would be 135 courses. Therefore, 135 multiplied by 15½ equals 2,092 brick; about 100 more will be needed to make the lower portion solid, or 2,200 brick in all. A more general method of estimating that is applicable to more complex structures is given on page 43. Methods of determining the quantity of mortar materials, labor, and cost are also given and can be applied to this example. SMOKE TEST Every flue should be subjected to the following smoke test before the heater is connected with it and preferably before the chimney has been furred and plastered or otherwise enclosed. Build a paper, straw, wood, or tar-paper fire at the base of the flue. When the smoke is rising in a dense column, tightly block the outlet at the top of the chimney with a wet blanket. Smoke that escapes through the masonry indicates the location of leaks. Frequently this test reveals bad leaks into adjoining flues or directly through the walls or between the linings and the wall. Remedy defects before the chimney is accepted for use. Such defects are usually difficult to correct; hence it is wise to watch the construction closely as it progresses. CLEANING AND REPAIRING FLUES Chimneys develop defects which if not promptly repaired cause trouble. Most masonry requires replacement of worn or weathered material or repointing of mortar joints, while flues become clogged and flashings fail. It is advisable to test a chimney every few years for tightness by the smoke test just described; to examine the inside of the flues by lowering a lantern or flashlight on a strong cord down from the top of the chimney or by holding a hand mirror at the proper angle at a stovepipe hole; to inspect the masonry for loose units, which are most likely to occur at the top (fig. 3) where the action of the flue gases, especially when soft coal is burned, disintegrates the mortar; to test mortar joints from the outside by prodding with a knife or similar tool to determine if the mortar is loose clear through the joint so as to leave a hole; and to notice if the chimney is damp because of leaky flashings, absorption of moisture from the ground, condensation, or excessive rain entering the flues. Cleaning Bricks that fall from the top and lodge at offsets or contracted sections can sometimes be reached and dislodged by a long pole or sections of pipe screwed together. They can be caught on a shingle or piece of sheet metal shoved into a stovepipe hole or removed through a clean-out door. A weighted cement sack filled with straw and attached to the end of a rope may be pulled up and down the flue to remove soot and loose material if the offset is not too great. Trouble with creosote and soot can be reduced when one understands how they are formed. Smoke and soot are caused by imperfect combustion, usually due to one or all of the following conditions: (1) Lack of sufficient air to the fire; (2) improper mixture of air with furnace gases; (3) low furnace temperature; (4) too small combustion space so that the gases reach the comparatively cool furnace surface before they are completely burned and, as a result, soot or tarry matter condenses and then passes up the chimney in the form of smoke. Soft coal causes more soot trouble than hard coal. If soot accumulates fast or trouble is experienced with unusual smoke when firing, it is probable that the heating equipment is not being operated properly. The manufacturer or installer usually is able to suggest proper adjustments. Investigations by the United States Bureau of Mines[5] have shown that various materials on being burned or volatilized form a vapor or smoke which settles upon soot; causing it to ignite at a lower temperature and burn more easily. For soot to burn, the gases in contact with it must have a temperature high enough to ignite it and sufficient air to support the combustion. The effectiveness of burning varies with the composition of the remover, but it also depends upon conditions being favorable. It will usually reduce somewhat the soot in a furnace and smoke pipe but not in a chimney. It has no effect on the ash mixed with the soot. This ash not only does not burn, but prevents complete burning of the soot mixed with it. [5] Nichols, P., and Staples, C. W. REMOVAL OR SOOT FROM FURNACES AND FLUES BY THE USE OF SALTS OR COMPOUNDS. U. S. Bur. Mines Bul. 360, 76 pp., illus. 1932. Soot removers cause soot to burn and are fire hazards. The correct and most thorough method of cleaning a chimney is to do so manually or to employ modern exhaust or vacuum methods used by furnace repairmen. However, it is inconvenient to remove soot and ash accumulations thoroughly more than once a year; hence a remover may help to keep the passages of stoves and heaters clear between annual cleanings, if deposits of soot accumulate quickly and reduce the draft. Likelihood of success in cleaning is greater when the deposits of soot are thick, provided they do not cut down the draft too much. If burning is employed, there is less risk when it is done frequently enough to prevent large accumulations, which cause intense fires. Also, freeing the heater and pipe of soot permits better fuel burning and higher temperatures in the chimney flue, thus reducing the amount of soot likely to be deposited on the flue walls. Common salt (rock or ice-cream salt) is not the most effective remover, yet it is the most widely used because of its cheapness, ease of handling, and general availability. Use two or three teacupfuls per application. Metallic zinc in the form of dust or small granules is often used; however, a mixture of salt and 10 percent zinc dust is more effective than either salt or zinc alone. One of the most effective mixtures of materials readily available is 1 part dry red lead and 5 parts common salt, measured by weight. Shake these together in a can with a tight-fitting lid. As lead is poisonous, wash the hands after using. One or two teacupfuls are used per application. Old dry-cell batteries contain suitable ingredients and when they are thrown in a hot furnace the soot usually burns. Quicker action can be had if they are chopped up. Before a remover is used, the fire must be put in good condition with a substantial body of hot fuel on top. Close the ash-pit door and the slots in the firing door and scatter the remover on the hot coals. Close the firing doors and at once reduce the draft by partially closing the pipe dampers. The draft should not be closed so tight as to cause fumes to escape into the cellar. Let the remover "stew" for 10 to 20 minutes or until fumes stop rising from the coals; then make the fire burn fiercely by opening the ash-pit door and the damper. Shaking ashes out will help. The slots in the firing door can be opened or the door itself set ajar. If soot in the furnace will not ignite, throw a little wood or paper on the fire. Instead of making a special job of cleaning at intervals, one or two cups of salt may be thrown on the fire once a day with the expectation that the furnace will produce a high enough temperature to ignite some of the soot. This is most likely to succeed in cold weather when the furnace temperatures are high. Cause of Creosote Creosote is the result of condensation in the chimney, and trouble from this source is best avoided by preventing creosote formation. It is more likely to form when wood is used for fuel than when coal is burned and is more likely to form in cold than in mild climates. Green wood may contain as high as 40 percent water, and dry wood 15 to 20 percent. When wood is slowly burned, it gives off acetic and pyroligneous acid, which in combination with water or moisture form creosote. When the draft is strong and an active fire is maintained, much of the creosote is carried off into the atmosphere. The trouble is aggravated when the fire does not burn briskly and when an outside flue is subjected to chilling blasts. The walls of the chimney, being comparatively cool, cause condensation of the vapors contained in the smoke. Thus the creosote condenses and runs down the flue, finding its way out of any joints that are not perfectly tight. The formation of creosote is unusual in chimneys that are surrounded by warm rooms. The outer walls of a chimney in an outside wall should be at least two bricks thick and the chimney should have a good flue lining. Creosote is difficult to remove and when it ignites makes a very hot fire that is likely to crack the masonry and char adjacent timbers. The only safe method of removal is to chip it from the masonry with a blade or straightened-out hoe attached to a pipe or handle. A heavy chain drawn up and down the flue walls is sometimes effective. However, when creosote is removed, care is necessary not to knock out mortar joints or to break the flue lining. Large quantities of salt thrown on the fire in the grate or fireplace will extinguish a chimney fire. A fire in a fireplace flue can be checked in its intensity and frequently extinguished by first quenching the fire on the hearth and then holding a wet rug or blanket over the opening so as to shut off the air. When this is done, the soot and creosote are likely to slide from the flue walls and drop into the fireplace. Before extinguishing a fire in a flue, cover openings into the rooms, so that the soot will not spread over furnishings. Repairing Chimneys When a chimney is damp, examine the flashing at the junction with the roof, especially if wet spots appear on the ceilings of rooms. Methods of repairing flashing are given in Farmers' Bulletin 1751, Roof Coverings for Farm Buildings and Their Repair. If the flashing is sound, possibly water runs down the inside of the flue and through defective mortar joints. Where these cannot be reached readily, the chimney may have to be torn down and rebuilt. Sometimes a hood (fig. 18, _A_ and _B_) is built on top of the chimney to keep out water or to prevent wind blowing down it. To prevent dampness being drawn up from the ground, the mortar can be raked from a joint at least 12 inches above the ground and a layer of slate, asbestos shingles, or rust-resistant sheet metal and new mortar worked into the joint. This work should be done by a mason. If bricks are porous or eroded, raking out the mortar one-half of an inch deep and applying three-fourths of an inch of cement plaster to the surfaces is effective. Eroded joints in the rest of the masonry should be raked and repointed. Where natural gas is burned, dampness due to condensation is not unusual and a drain may be needed. Where such conditions exist, advice should be sought from the manufacturers of the equipment as to the proper remedy. A chimney that becomes too hot to permit holding the hand against it should be carefully inspected by a reliable mason and adequately protected as suggested in the preceding pages. If, after a chimney is cleaned, an examination discloses holes, unfilled joints, or other unsound conditions out of reach for repair, it is advisable to tear the masonry down and rebuild properly. Inside bricks that are impregnated with creosote and soot should not be used in the new work because they will stain plaster whenever dampness occurs. It is almost impossible to remove creosote and soot stains on plaster and wallpaper. Sometimes painting the plaster with aluminum-flake paint or waterproof varnish hides the stains. A hatchway cut through a roof is convenient when high chimneys are repaired or cleaned, especially when access to the roof is difficult. The hatchway should be located so that it will not be necessary to crawl over the roof to reach the chimney and so that a ladder placed on the attic floor will not be too steep for safe ascent. A watertight cover with hooks to prevent its blowing off is essential. Such a hatchway is best provided when the building is erected but can be readily built at any time. FIREPLACES A fireplace is ordinarily considered appropriate to a living room, dining room, and bedroom; however, basement, porch, and outdoor fireplaces are gaining in favor with the householder. Also public dining places, offices, etc., frequently have fireplaces for the comfort and for the air of informality they provide. All fireplaces should be built in accordance with the few simple essentials of correct design given herein if satisfactory performance is to be realized. They should be of a size best suited to the room in which they are used from the standpoint of appearance and operation. If too small, they may function properly but do not throw out sufficient heat. If they are too large, a fire that would fill the combustion chamber would be entirely too hot for the room and would waste fuel. The location of the chimney determines the location of the fireplace and too often is governed by structural considerations only. A fireplace suggests a fireside group and a reasonable degree of seclusion, and therefore, especially in the living room, it should not be near doors to passageways of the house. CHARACTERISTICS The principal warming effect of a fireplace is produced by the radiant heat from the fire and from the hot back, sides, and hearth. In the ordinary fireplace practically no heating effect is produced by convection, that is, by air current. Air passes through the fire and up the chimney, carrying with it the heat absorbed from the fire; at the same time outside air of a lower temperature is drawn into the room. The effect of the cold air thus brought into the room is particularly noticeable farthest from the fire. Heat radiation, like light, travels in straight lines, and unless one is within range of such radiation, little heat is felt. Tests made by the Bureau of Agricultural Chemistry and Engineering showed that about five times the amount of air required for even liberal ventilation may be drawn into a living room by the operation of a fireplace. Such excessive ventilation may cause chilling drafts. Persons located at advantageous points in the room will be comfortable under such conditions, but those out of the radiation zone will not. [Illustration: Figure 19.--In 1744 Franklin promoted a metal fireplace of this type to be set out into a room. These are known as Franklin stoves and sometimes are equipped with andirons for burning wood or a grate for burning coal. The metal blower, shown in front of the opening was used with grates and set in place when starting the draft and then removed so that the cheery heat of glowing coals could be enjoyed. At one time this type of stove was highly thought of because it threw out more heat than the built-in fireplace. A few manufacturers specialize in Franklin stoves because of the present-day demand.] Tests conducted by this Bureau indicate that, as ordinarily constructed, a fireplace is only about one-third as efficient as a good stove or circulator heater. Nevertheless, they have a place as an auxiliary to the heating plant and for their cheerfulness and charm. In milder climates, fireplaces may suffice as the sole source of heat; also certain materials often wasted may be utilized for fuel. The disadvantages of the ordinary fireplace are lessened by "modified" fireplaces. MODIFIED FIREPLACES The Franklin stove (fig. 19) is a type of modified fireplace. The modified fireplaces of today are of several types, as shown in figures 20 and 21. Both the last two types of modified fireplaces are manufactured as units of heavy metal, designed to be set into place and concealed by the usual brickwork, or other construction, so that no practical change in mantel design is required by their use. The modifications are built-in standard parts of the fireplace--only the grilles show (fig. 22). [Illustration: Figure 20.--In this modified fireplace air enters the inlet, _a_, from outside and is heated as it rises by natural circulation through the back chamber, _c_, and the tubes, _t_, being discharged into the room from the register, _b_. Air for supporting combustion is drawn into the fire at _d_ and passes between the tubes up the flue A damper is also provided to close the air inlet.] One advantage claimed for modified fireplace units is that the correctly designed and proportioned firebox, manufactured with throat, damper, smoke shelf, and chamber, provides a form for the masonry, thus reducing the risk of failure and assuring a smokeless fireplace! However, there is no excuse for using incorrect proportions; and the desirability of using a foolproof form, as provided by the modified unit, merely to obtain good proportions should be considered from the standpoint of cost. Even though the unit is well designed, it will not operate properly if the chimney is inadequate; therefore the rules for correct chimney construction must be adhered to with the modified unit as well as with the ordinary fireplace. Manufacturers claim labor and materials saved tend to offset the purchase price of the unit; also that the saving in fuel justifies any net increase in first cost. A minimum life of 20 years is claimed for the type and thickness of metal commonly used today in these units. Field tests made by this Bureau have proved that, when properly installed, the better designs of modified-fireplace units circulate heat into the cold corners of rooms and will deliver heated air through ducts to adjoining or upper rooms. For example, heat could be diverted to a bathroom from a living-room fireplace. [Illustration: Figure 21.--In this fireplace the air is not drawn in directly from outdoors but through the inlet, _a_, from the room that is being heated. The air is heated by contact with the metal sides and back of the fireplace, rises by natural circulation, and is discharged back into the room from the outlet, _b_, or to another room on the same floor or in the second story. The inlets and outlets are connected to registers which may be located at the front of the fireplace, as shown in figure 22. The registers may be located on the ends of the fireplace or on the wall of an adjacent room.] The quantity and temperature of the heated air discharged from the grilles in figures 20 and 21 were measured to determine the merits of the convection features. These measurements showed that very appreciable amounts of convected heat are produced by the modified unit when properly installed and operated. Discharge-air temperatures in excess of 200° F. were attained from some of the units tested. The heated air delivered from the discharge grilles of some of the medium-sized units represented a heating effect equivalent to that from nearly 40 square feet of cast-iron radiation of the ordinary hot-water heating system, or sufficient to heat a 15- by 18-foot room built with average tightness to 70° F. when the outside temperature is 40° F. Additional convected heat can be produced with some models by the use of forced-circulation fans. [Illustration: Figure 22.--Except for the registers and metallic sides and back, the appearance of modified fireplaces is like that of ordinary ones. An interesting effect is secured by the mirror--the reflection of the opposite wall appears like a recess over the mantel.] However, the nature of operation, with the unavoidably large quantity of heated air passing up the stack, makes the inherent over-all efficiency of any fireplace relatively low. Therefore, claims for an increased efficiency of modified fireplaces should be understood merely as constituting an improvement over the ordinary fireplace and not over stoves or central heating plants. When a fireplace is being selected the kind of fuel to be burned should be considered; also, the design should harmonize with the room in proportion and detail (figs. 23 and 24). [Illustration: Figure 23.--A well-designed commercial mantel that suits the room. Since it is painted the same color as the walls, it does not focus attention, as the handsomely carved formal mantel or mahogany shown in figure 37 is intended to do.] In colonial days, when cordwood was plentiful, fireplaces 7 feet wide and 5 feet high were common, especially when used in kitchens for cooking (fig. 25). They required large amounts of fuel and too frequently were smoky. Where cordwood (4 feet long) is cut in half, a 30-inch width is desirable for a fireplace; but, where coal is burned, the opening can be narrower (fig. 26). Thirty inches is a practical height for the convenient tending of a fire where the width is less than 6 feet; openings about 30 inches wide (fig. 27) are generally made with square corners. The higher the opening, the greater the chance of a smoky fireplace. [Illustration: Figure 24.--Another good design is this revival of early New England architecture, which is frequently used for remodeling public dining rooms. The random-width pine planks were selected especially for variety in the pattern of the knots. Note the use of otherwise wasted space for bookshelves and closet.] [Illustration: Figure 25.--_A_, A fireplace at Mount Vernon, Washington's home, typical of those used before cooking stoves were introduced. This type of fireplace, if not too large, is often retained (_B_) when a kitchen is remodeled into a living room. Note the Dutch oven at the right, formerly used for baking.] [Illustration: Figure 26.--Fireplaces originally intended for wood were frequently bricked up, and small cast-iron units of this type were built in, since the large openings required for wood were wasteful when coal was used. This was a very popular type of grate for hotel and private bedrooms about 1860 and can still be seen in old houses in coal regions. Note the plain and neat mantel of wide plank.] In general, the wider the opening the greater should be the depth. A shallow opening throws out relatively more heat than a deep one of the same width but accommodates smaller pieces of wood; thus it becomes a question of preference between a greater depth which permits the use of large logs that burn longer and a shallower depth (fig. 28, _A_ and _B_) which takes smaller-sized wood but throws out more heat. In small fireplaces a depth of 12 inches will permit good draft if the throat is constructed as explained above, but a minimum depth of 16 to 18 inches is advised to lessen the danger of brands falling out on the floor. As a rule, fireplaces on the second floor are smaller than those on the first floor and it is well to follow this practice because the flue height is less for second floor fireplaces (fig. 29). Unless a fireplace 6 feet wide is fully 28 inches deep, the logs will have to be split, and some advantage of the wide opening will be lost. Screens of suitable design should be placed in front of all fireplaces (fig. 30). [Illustration: Figure 27.--This inexpensive fireplace 32 inches square shows how a plain brick front can be used in a small room.] A fireplace 30 to 36 inches wide is generally suitable for a room having 300 square feet of floor (fig. 31). The width should be increased for larger rooms, but all other dimensions should be taken from table 3 for the width selected. The corner of a room often is the favorite location for a fireplace (fig. 32). Fireplaces of the type shown in figure 28 are also built in corners. [Illustration: Figure 28.--A, A shallow fireplace, with a copper hood, built as shown in B, throws out considerable heat after the hood gets hot. The wall should be of fire-resistant masonry.] [Illustration: Figure 29.--This shallow fireplace with a sloping back is a type that was frequently built in bedrooms before the general use of stoves. Note the neat and well-proportioned mantel.] [Illustration: Figure 30.--Screens are almost essential to protect the upholstery of nearby furniture from sparks. This fireplace shows artistic use of small stones and makes a pleasing contrast with the log walls.] Units providing for burning gas are often built in to resemble fireplaces (fig. 33). Pleasing designs result from exercising good taste in use of materials and mantels that suit the room. The photographs in this bulletin have been selected to illustrate various architectural effects that can be developed and should help in the choice of a type suitable for houses of different designs. The essentials for safety and utility, however, should not be sacrificed for style. [Illustration: Figure 31.--This 36-inch-wide fireplace does not seem too large for the small room, but its size would have been accentuated by the use of a mantel.] CONSTRUCTION The ordinary fireplace is constructed generally as shown in figure 34. It is essential (1) that the flue have the proper area, (2) that the throat be correctly constructed and have suitable damper, (3) that the chimney be high enough for a good draft, (4) that the shape of the fireplace be such as to direct a maximum amount of radiated heat into the room, and (5) that a properly constructed smoke chamber be provided. [Illustration: Figure 32.--An adobe fireplace of the Mexican-Indian type commonly built in the Southwestern States, especially when the house walls are of adobe. The logs are stood up, leaning against the back of the grate, in order to secure a high-licking flame.] DIMENSIONS Table 3 gives recommended dimensions for fireplaces of various widths and heights. If a damper is installed, the width of the opening j, figure 34, will depend on the width of the damper frame, the size of which is fixed by the width and depth of the fireplace and the slope of the back wall. The width of the throat proper is determined by the opening of the hinged damper cover. The full damper opening should never be less than the flue area. Responsible manufacturers of fireplace equipment give valuable assistance in the selection of a suitable damper for a given fireplace. A well-designed and well-installed damper should be regarded as essential in cold climates. When no damper is used, the throat opening j should be 4 inches for fireplaces not exceeding 4 feet in height. Table 3.--_Recommended dimensions for finished fireplaces_ [Letters at heads of columns refer to figure 34] Table Key _w_ Opening Width _h_ " Height _d_ Depth _c_ Minimum back (horizontal) _a_ Vertical back wall _b_ Inclined " " _o_ Outside dimensions of standard flue lining _i_ Inside diameter of standard round flue lining _w_ _h_ _d_ _c_ _a_ _b_ _o_ _i_ ------+-------+--------+-------+-------+-------+--------+------- Inches Inches Inches Inches Inches Inches Inches Inches 24 24 16-18 14 14 16 8½ by 8½ 10 28 24 16-18 14 14 16 8½ by 8½ 10 24 28 16-18 14 14 20 8½ by 8½ 10 30 28 16-18 16 14 20 8½ by 13 10 36 28 16-18 22 14 20 8½ by 13 12 42 28 16-18 28 14 20 8½ by 18 12 36 32 18-20 20 14 24 8½ by 18 12 42 32 18-20 26 14 24 13 by 11 12 48 32 18-20 32 11 24 13 by 13 15 42 36 18-20 26 11 28 13 by 13 15 48 36 18-20 32 14 28 13 by 18 15 54 36 18-20 38 14 28 13 by 18 15 60 36 18-20 44 14 28 13 by 18 15 42 40 20-22 24 17 29 13 by 13 15 48 40 20-22 30 17 29 13 by 18 15 54 40 20-22 36 17 29 13 by 18 15 60 40 20-22 42 17 29 18 by 18 18 66 40 20-22 48 17 29 18 by 13 18 72 40 22-28 51 17 29 18 by 18 18 [Illustration: Figure 33.--In regions where natural gas is plentiful and in cities, fireplaces of this type, burning gas with a flickering flame, are frequently used as an auxiliary to the main heating plant. Some types have imitation logs of metal perforated for gas jets.] Footings Footings for chimneys with fireplaces should be provided as described on page 7; for chimneys without fireplaces, the footings should rest on good firm soil. [Illustration: Figure 34.--A typical fireplace, illustrating practical details of construction. An alternate method of supporting the hearth is shown in the lower right-hand corner. The various letters refer to specific features discussed in the text.] Hearth The hearth should be about flush with the floor, for sweepings may then be brushed into the fireplace. When there is a basement, an ash dump located in the hearth near the back of the fireplace is convenient. The dump consists of a metal frame about 5 by 8 inches in size, with a plate, generally pivoted, through which ashes can be dropped into a pit below (fig. 35). [Illustration: Figure 35.--The ash-pit should be of tight masonry and should be provided with a tightly fitting iron clean-out door and frame about 10 by 12 inches in size. A clean-out for the furnace flue as shown is sometimes provided.] In buildings with wooden floors the hearth in front of the fireplace should be supported by masonry trimmer arches (fig. 34) or other fire-resistant construction. Hearths should project at least 16 inches from the chimney breast and should be of brick, stone, terra cotta, or reinforced concrete not less than 4 inches thick. The length of the hearth should be not less than the width of the fireplace opening plus 16 inches. Wooden centering under trimmer arches may be removed after the mortar has set, though it is more frequently left in place. Figure 36 shows a recommended method of floor framing around a fireplace. Wall Thickness The walls of fireplaces should never be less than 8 inches thick, and if of stone they should be at least 12 inches thick. When built of stone or hard-burned brick, the back and sides are often not lined with firebrick, but it is better to use firebrick laid in fire-clay. When firebricks are laid fiat with the long sides exposed there is less danger of their falling out. They are generally placed on edge, however, forming a 2-inch protection, in which case metal ties should be built into the main brickwork to hold the 2-inch firebrick veneer in place. Thick metal backs and sides are sometimes used as lining. When a grate for burning coal or coke is built in, firebrick at least 2 inches thick should be added to the fireplace back unless the grate has a solid iron back and is only set in with an air space behind it (fig. 37). Jambs The jambs should be wide enough to give stability and a pleasing appearance; they are frequently faced with ornamental brick or tile. For an opening 3 feet wide or less, a 12- or 16-inch width is generally sufficient, depending on whether a wood mantel is used or the jambs are of exposed masonry. The edges of a wood mantel should be kept at least 8 inches from the fireplace opening. For wider openings and large rooms, similar proportions should be kept. [Illustration: Figure 36.--Where a header is more than 4 feet in length, it should be doubled, as shown. Headers supporting more than four tail beams should have ends supported in metal joist hangers. The framing may be placed one-half inch from the chimney because the masonry is 8 inches thick.] Lintel Lintels of ½- by 3-inch flat iron bars. 3½- by 3¼- by ¼-inch angle irons, or damper frames are used to support the masonry over the opening of ordinary fireplaces. Heavier lintel irons are required for wider openings. Where a masonry arch (fig. 38) is used over the opening, the jambs should be heavy enough to resist the thrust of the arch. Arches over openings less than 4 feet wide seldom sag, but sagging is not uncommon in wider fireplaces, especially where massive masonry is used. Throat The sides of the fireplace should be vertical up to the throat, or damper opening (_ff_ fig. 34). The throat should be 6 to 8 inches or more above the bottom of the lintel and have an area not less than that of the flue and a length equal to the width of the fireplace opening. Starting 5 inches above the throat, _ee_, the sides should be drawn in at _tt_ to equal the flue area. Proper throat construction is so necessary to a successful fireplace that the work should be inspected several times a day during construction to make certain that the side walls are carried up perpendicularly until the throat is passed and that the full length of opening is provided. Smoke Shelf and Chamber The smoke shelf is made by setting the brickwork back at the top of the throat to the line of the flue wall for the full length of the throat. Its depth may vary from 6 to 12 inches or more, depending on the depth, d, of the fireplace. [Illustration: Figure 37.--Grates of this type are commonly used in fireplaces for burning coal or coke. This one has a metal back and ends and is only set in to permit proper circulation of air around it.] The smoke chamber is the space extending from the top of the throat, _ee_, up to the bottom of the flue proper, tt 9 and between the side walls. The walls should be drawn inward 30° to the vertical after the top of the throat, _ee_, is passed and smoothly plastered with cement mortar not less than one-half inch thick. Damper A properly designed damper, as shown in figure 34, affords a means of regulating the draft and prevents excessive loss of heat from the room when the fire is out. A damper consists of a cast-iron frame with a lid hinged so that the width of the throat opening may be varied from a closed to a wide-open position. Various patterns are on the market, some designed to support the masonry over the opening, others requiring lintel irons. [Illustration: Figure 38.--This well-designed small stone fireplace was built in accordance with the principles given in this bulletin. It is a good heater and does not smoke. The jambs are wide enough to resist the thrust of the arch.] A roaring pine fire may require a full-throat opening, but slow-burning hardwood logs may need only 1 or 2 inches of opening. Regulating the opening according to the kind of fire prevents waste of heat up the chimney. Closing the damper in summer keeps flies, mosquitoes, and other insects from entering the house down the chimney. In houses heated by furnaces or other modern systems, lack of a damper in the fireplace flue may interfere with uniform heating, particularly in very cold windy weather, whether or not there is a fire on the hearth. When air heated by the furnace is carried up the chimney there is a waste of the furnace fuel, but a damper partially open serves a slow fire of hardwood without smoking the room or wasting heated air from the main heating system. [Illustration: Figure 39.--Diagram showing front view and cross section of an entire chimney such as is commonly built to serve a furnace, fireplace, and kitchen stove. Two sets of dimensions are given, those in rectangles refer to the approximate sizes of the voids or openings; the others refer to the outside dimensions of the brickwork. These are used in estimating the number of bricks in a chimney. The letters _A_-_F_ indicate sections used in estimating the quantities of brick required (See p. 44.)] Flue The area of lined flues should be a twelfth or more of the fireplace opening, provided the chimney is at least 22 feet in height, measured from the hearth. If the flue is shorter than 22 feet or if it is unlined, its area should be made a tenth or more of the fireplace opening. The fireplace shown in figure 34 has an opening of 7.5 square feet, or approximately 1,080 square inches, and needs a flue area of approximately 90 square inches; a rectangular flue, 8% by 18 inches, outside dimensions, or a round flue with a 12-inch inside diameter might be used, as these are the nearest commercial sizes of lining (table 2). It is seldom possible to obtain lining having exactly the required area, but the inside area should never be less than that prescribed above. A 13- by 13-inch flue was selected for convenience when combining with the other flues. If the flue is built of brick and is unlined, its area should be approximately one-tenth of the fireplace opening, or 108 square inches. It would probably be made 8 by 16 inches (128 square inches) because brickwork can be laid to better advantage when the dimensions of the flue are multiples of 4 inches. The principles of construction given under Chimneys (p. 7) apply to fireplace flues. Table 4 is convenient in selecting the proper size of flue or for determining the size of fireplace opening for an existing flue. The area of the fireplace opening in square inches is obtained by multiplying the width, _w_, by the height, _h_, (fig. 34), both measured in inches. COST ESTIMATE A convenient method for estimating the number of bricks in a chimney is to calculate the volume of the various sections which differ in outside dimensions and then subtract the voids or cavities resulting from ash-pits, fireplace, and flues. This will be the total cubic feet of brickwork which, when multiplied by 22.5, is converted to number of bricks. For convenience, inches as indicated in figure 39 have been converted to decimals of a foot.[6] [6] Inches and fractions of an inch are converted to feet and decimals by multiplying by 0.0833; thus 2 X / inches × O.0833 equals 0.208 feet. Table 4.--_Sizes of fireplace flue linings_[D] Outside dimensions Inside Area of of standard diameter of fireplace rectangular standard round opening flue lining flue lining --------- ----------- -------------- _Square inches_ _Inches_ _Inches_ 600 8½ by 8½ 10 800 8½ by 13 10 1,000 8½ by 18 12 1,200 8½ by 18 12 1,400 13 by 13 12 1,600 13 by 13 15 1,800 13 by 18 15 2,000 13 by 18 15 2,200 13 by 18 15 2,400 18 by 18 18 2,600 18 by 18 18 2,800 18 by 18 18 3,000 18 by 18 18 [D] Based on a flue area equal to one-twelfth the fireplace opening. Sec table 2 for areas of flue lining. Number of Bricks (1) Estimate the total volume of masonry by multiplying together the length, width, and height of the various sections (fig. 39). _Length _Width _Height _Volume _Section_ Feet_ Feet_ Feet_ Cubic feet_ _AB_ 6.0 by 2.75 by 12.66 = 209.0 _BC_ 4.25 by 2.5 by 1.66 = 17.6 _CD_ 3.5 by 2.0 by 2.0 = 14.0 _DE_ 3.5 by 1.75 by 10.16 = 62.2 _EF_ 4.33 by 2.5 by 6.0 = 65.0 ------ Total volume including voids 367. 8 (2) Estimate the total volume of voids by multiplying together their length, width, and height. _Length _Width _Height _Volume _Item_ Feet_ Feet_ Feet_ Cubic feet_ Ash-pit 2.33 by 1.5 by 7.0 = 24 46 Fireplace 3.0 by 1.5 by 3.5 = 15.75 Smoke chamber 2.0 by 1.16 by 2.0 = 4.64 8½- by 13-inch flue[E] 0.78 square feet by 28 5 = 22.23 13- by 13-inch flue[E] 1.20 square feet by 18.75 = 22.50 8½- by 8½-inch flue[E] .50 square feet by 18.75 = 9.37 ------ Total volume of voids 98.95 [E] See table 2 for outside areas of flues in square feet. (3) Subtract volume of voids from volume of masonry. _Cubic feet_ Total volume, including voids 368 Total volume of voids 99 --- Total volume of masonry 269 (4) Multiply net volume of masonry by the number of brick per cubic foot. 269 by 22.5 = 6,053 brick, or 6.1 thousand bricks. Mortar To estimate the mortar needed, multiply the mortar material given below for 1,000 brick by 6.1 to determine how much will be needed to build the chimney, using 1:1:6 mixture recommended on page 10. Bags of hydrated lime 2.6 by 6.1 = 16 bags. Sacks of portland cement 3.5 by 6.1 = 22 sacks. Cubic feet of sand 18.0 by 6.1 = 110 cubic feet = 4 cubic yards. Foundation Concrete needed for foundation can be estimated as follows: Concrete for foundation should be 1:2½:5 and for the top 1:2½. The foundation is 7 by 3.75 by 1, or 26.25 cubic feet, or 1 cubic yard, and will require 5 sacks of cement, 0.46 cubic yard of sand, and 92 cubic yard of gravel. The cap is 4.5 by 2.66 by 0.5 = 5.9 cubic feet The area of the three flues above must be deducted: 5.9 minus 2.48 = 3.42 cubic feet, or one-ninth of a cubic yard. As 1 cubic yard was assumed for the foundation, extra cement and sand are not needed. Other material needed: 1 8-inch thimble, 9 inches long. 1 6-inch thimble, 9 inches long. 28 feet of 8½- by 13-inch flue lining. 20 feet of 13- by 13-inch flue lining. 20 feet of 8½- by 8½-inch flue lining. Damper, 36- by 10-inch throat opening. 2 clean-out doors and 1 ash dump. Mantel as selected. If firebrick is to be used or the exposed breast is to be of face or special brick (or ceramic tile) the number should be counted or estimated and deducted from the number of common brick as estimated above. Labor The labor required to build a chimney depends on the thickness of the walls, the height, and the amount of cutting to build in specialties, provide offsets, etc. In general, a mason will take 16 hours with 8 hours of laborer's help to lay 1,000 brick. On this basis, 16 by 6.1 = 97.6 hours of mason's time and 48.8 hours of laborer's time will be required. Cost The approximate cost of the chimney can be determined by using actual local cost of materials and wages as follows:[F] 6,100 brick at $15.00 per thousand $91.50 27 sacks of cement[G] at $0.70 per sack 18.90 16 bags of lime at $0.50 per bag 8.00 5 cubic yards of sand[G] at $2.25 per cubic yard 11.25 1 cubic yard of gravel at $2.00 per cubic yard 2.00 98 hours, mason's time, at $1.00 per hour 98.00 49 hours, laborer's time,[H] at $0.30 per hour 14.70 28 linear feet of 8½- by 13-inch flue at $1.00 per foot 28.00 20 linear feet of 13- by 13-inch flue at $1.15 per foot 23.00 20 linear feet of 8½- by 8½-inch flue at $0.40 per foot 8.00 1 8-inch thimble .60 1 6-inch thimble .40 2 clean-out doors } Damper, lintel mantel, ash dump} 65.00 ----- Total net cost [I] 369.35 [F] The prices used in this example are merely illustrative. [G] Includes material for footing and cap. [H] Includes labor for footing and cap. [I] Where the chimney is built by contract, 10 to 15 percent should be added for profit and overhead. SMOKY FIREPLACES When a fireplace smokes, it should be examined to make certain that the essential requirements of construction as outlined in this bulletin have been fulfilled. If the chimney is not stopped up with fallen brick and the mortar joints are not loose, note whether nearby trees or tall structures cause eddies down the flue. To determine whether the fireplace opening is in correct proportion to the flue area, hold a piece of sheet metal across the top of the fireplace opening and then gradually lower it, making the opening smaller until smoke does not come into the room. Mark at the lower edge of the metal on the sides of the fireplace. The opening may then be reduced by building in a metal shield or hood across the top so that its lower edge is at the marks made during the test; or the trouble can generally be remedied by increasing the height of the flue. OUTDOOR FIREPLACES Outdoor fireplaces range from simple makeshifts to elaborately equipped structures harmonizing with the architecture of the house. No one type will meet all conditions, but all types should be practical to use and yet not be fire hazards or eyesores. [Illustration: Figure 40.--A, A fireplace built for 30 cents, cash. One hundred and twenty bricks and six concrete blocks were picked up a few at a time along the road. One sack of cement was purchased, one-half of which was used for another job Sand was available on the site. B f Detailed drawings show dimensions of this fireplace. As the fireplace is ordinarily built, the material would cost about $5 and the labor from $5 to $10, depending on local conditions.] TYPES The tendency is to build too large an outdoor fireplace. Where only a little cooking is to be done occasionally in a small yard or at a picnic, several concrete blocks or stones set on the ground about 12 to 16 inches apart will serve. The shelf of an old refrigerator may be used for a grille. If permanence is desired, the walls should be laid in cement mortar and the fireplace should have a suitable foundation and a permanent grille. An end wall is recommended to prevent embers from being scattered by drafts blowing between the side walls. Smoke annoyance while cooking is lessened by making the fireplace long enough to permit a short chimney (fig. 40). [Illustration: Figure 41.--An outdoor fireplace built back of an inside fireplace and opening onto a paved terrace provides comfort in early fall.] A circle of stones laid loosely on the surface, larger stones set partly into the ground, or carefully laid masonry walls on a stable foundation may be used for campfires and small barbecue parties. A cast-iron pot with a lid can be buried in the ashes for baking. Pipe supports for pots and pans built into the masonry are a convenience; they can be homemade or purchased. Spits for roasting can be improvised or bought. Fireplaces opening onto an enclosed porch or paved terrace, are often built as an integral part of the house chimney (fig. 41). The corner of boundary walls permits effective treatment. Such fireplaces should meet the regulations of local fire authorities and be built with the same care and be subject to the same rules as inside fireplaces. OBTAINING PLANS Plans for outdoor fireplaces are available from various publishing houses; several magazines feature illustrations that can be adapted to the material at hand. If a structure is to be built with local labor and material, simple designs are advisable. The size of stones, joints, and proportions have a direct influence upon appearance, and good personal taste frequently results in more pleasing structures than blind adherence to conventional designs. The various combinations of ovens, cranes, grilles, storage compartments, benches, lights, sinks, etc., to be used as built-in features affect the design. Before planning a structure with these features, catalogs of dealers in outdoor fireplace equipment should be consulted for sizes of the available accessories so that ample space and proper details can be provided in the masonry for building them in. Skilled labor should be employed for elaborate designs (fig. 42) when much equipment is built in or when the fireplace, as in figure 41, is an integral part of a permanent building. [Illustration: Figure 42.--This fireplace, set at a focal point in the garden, enhances the landscape. It was built by a skilled mason.] CONSTRUCTION Ordinarily the fire is built on the hearth, no grate being used. Fire regulations in hazardous localities may require firing doors, dampers, spark screens, and a solid-plate cooking surface; otherwise these features are not essential. Two and a half square feet of cooking surface is desirable, while access to both sides and the end permit several people to cook at the same time. The side walls should have fairly level tops for pots and pans. Side walls are made 2 to 6 inches higher than the cooking level to permit anchoring the grille; if too high, they interfere with cooking. Commercial grilles are available, but satisfactory ones can be made of ½-inch to ¾-inch pipe or 5/8-inch reinforcing rods. The pipes should be 6 to 10 inches longer than the width of the firebox; they should be spaced not more than 1¼ inches apart and have their tops exactly level to prevent pots and pans from wobbling. Two or three pipes can be used for a lintel over the opening into the flue if regular iron lintels are not available. Where a solid top is desired, it should be of boiler plate at least ¼-inch thick. Such plates must be stiffened to prevent buckling by alternate heating and cooling; for ordinary purposes they are merely set on top of the grid though they may be hinged at the rear so they can be tipped back against the chimney. The best draft is secured when the fireplace faces the direction of prevailing breezes and is protected from strong winds which might scatter sparks. If the fireplace is built too near shrubbery or under trees, the heat and smoke may damage or burn the foliage. A slight rise or a gentle slope that affords good drainage should be selected. Paving the ground around the fireplace, with flagstones or covering it with a layer of gravel or sand will prevent the area from becoming a mudhole or an unsightly bare spot; also, danger of starting brush fires by sparks falling from the firebox is lessened. Fireboxes 12 to 16 inches wide, 16 to 24 inches long, and 6 to 8 inches deep with the hearth at 9 to 16 inches above the ground are sufficient for most purposes. Large fireboxes are wasteful of fuel; while, if the grille is too high above the hearth, much of the best cooking heat from glowing coals is lost. Most grilles are set 15 to 24 inches above the ground, though 30 inches may be desirable to avoid the necessity of stooping when cooking. The hearth should slope 1 to 2 inches toward the front so that rain water will drain away. The area of the chimney flue should be at least one-eighth the vertical cross-sectional area of the firebox. Fire-clay linings for the firebox and flue are not absolutely necessary except when required by fire regulations or where hot fires are maintained for long periods. They, or common brick linings, are advisable for the more permanent and expensive structures or where it is necessary to use porous stone, such as sandstone and most stratified rocks, which absorb water and flake or chip upon exposure to fire. Most rocks or stone that can be worked up without special tools or skill, brick, and concrete are adaptable for the average fireplace (fig. 43). The size of the stones determines the thickness of the walls; no wall should be less than 8 inches thick. Where suitable stone is difficult to get in sufficient quantity, the exposed surface may consist of a shell the thickness of the stone and the inner portion of the wall be made of concrete or large stone bedded in concrete. When flue lining is necessary, it will serve as a form for the flue: otherwise a metal stovepipe makes a practical form, or the flue can be formed of brick laid on edge. The stones can be laid and the concrete deposited with the least trouble by building the veneer and flue only 6 to 8 inches high at one time. All masonry should be laid in mortar, as described on page 10. Concrete made in the proportions 1:2½:4 will serve most purposes where wall sections are about 8 inches thick. For heavy foundations and thick walls not subject to direct fire, 1:3:6 concrete is strong enough. A concrete slab 4 to 8 inches thick with the bottom 4 to 6 inches below the surface provides a sufficient foundation for medium-sized structures where frost is negligible and the soil is well drained and firm. If the soil is not well drained a 6- to 8-inch layer of stone, cinders, or sand should be provided under the slab and the surface of the immediate vicinity graded or otherwise protected from water. It is advisable to use ¼-inch or ½-inch reinforcing rods, 6 inches apart in both directions, one-third the distance from the top in slabs for all but the smallest fireplaces or where frost is not severe. [Illustration: Figure 43.--_A_, Ground plan of a stone fireplace that can be built in different sizes to suit the landscape; _B_, vertical-section sketch; _C_, the completed fireplace. The stones for this fireplace were picked up at "the swimming hole." About 8 bushels were used over a backing of concrete; 16 bushels would have been needed if the concrete had not been used. Gravel and sand were dug from the excavation. The chimney is battered 4 inches in the 24-inch height.] Heavy and expensive structures, especially those having tall chimneys, should have foundations below the surface affected by frost or erosion and strong enough to prevent settlement or cracks. Such a foundation can be made of concrete, with a liberal use of large stones for economy, extending under the whole structure, or be continuous walls with a footing similar to those used for houses. The advice and help of builders may save money in the construction of foundations of large expensive fireplaces, especially where climatic conditions are severe and the bearing power of soil is not known. OPERATION Cooking should be done over glowing coals, as flames and smoke smudge the utensils or even the food. When the wood is nearly charred, most of the smoke has been driven off and the chimney is hot enough to draw the smoke up the flue. All fires should be banked before they are left, to avoid setting fires. Banking can be safely and effectively done by raking the coals and unconsumed fuel into a pile on the hearth and covering the pile with a few inches of earth. Water thrown on a hot fire may result in scalds from the steam and may crack the fireplace. BARBECUE PITS Barbecue ovens are rather expensive unless for community use. Outdoor fireplaces, without or with spits for roasting, are frequently called barbecues in some sections of the country. For occasional barbecuing parties, a hole in the ground will serve. Dig a hole several feet deep and several feet larger each way than the size of the carcass to be roasted; then place stones in the bottom to retain the heat. A trench 30 inches deep, 36 inches wide, and about 10 feet long will accommodate about 400 pounds of beef. A fire should be built sufficiently ahead of time, about 3 hours, to heat the stones and bottom and accumulate ashes for proper banking. Have someone with previous experience operate the pit, because improper wrapping of the meat and handling of the coals results in poor cooking. DUTCH OVENS Dutch ovens (fig. 25) are often built in connection with both indoor and outdoor fireplaces to copy early kitchen fireplaces or for actual baking. When used as an ornament, the oven is fitted with a cast-iron door, and the space thus formed may be used for wood storage. An open firebox or compartment below may be similarly used. Spaces used for wood storage should be separated from the fireplace by a brick or stone partition at least 8 inches thick, all joints being completely filled with mortar. If the oven is intended for baking, it is advisable to line it with firebrick, and the masonry should be at least 8 inches thick. A greater heat-storing capacity is secured by using thick walls. An ash drop of standard cast-iron unit type is provided for modern ovens and may lead either to the side of the fireplace or to an ash-pit in the chimney base. The throat or dome should be carefully formed with brick molded or ground to an arch and preferably should be fitted with a damper. If the top of the oven is flat, several lintel irons will be needed to support the brick. A separate flue with a damper is recommended. For ovens of ordinary size an 8½- by 8½-inch flue is ample. The oven is preheated by fire or hot coals. Before food is placed in the oven, the coals and ashes are removed through the ash drop. Figure 44 shows a Dutch oven made of tapered adobe bricks and plastered outside with adobe mud. A hole in the top permits the escape of smoke, while the orño is being heated by the fire built inside on the floor. This hole is closed with an adobe block after the coals are raked out. When loaves of bread have been placed on the floor with a wooden paddle, the door hole is stopped with adobe brick. [Illustration: Figure 44.--This Dutch oven of adobe bricks is a type very common in the States along the Mexican border. It is called an orño and is usually built a short distance from the kitchen door.] Boy Scouts and campers frequently improvise Dutch ovens by packing damp sandy clay, 8 to 12 inches thick, around a wooden barrel, a tin wash boiler, or slabs of rock to form a vault. After the earth has been gradually dried and baked with a slow fire, the oven is ready for use. The hole in the top and the door can be closed as in the orño. * * * * * U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1947 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C. - Price 15 cents * * * * * Transcriber Note The footnotes for the tables were changed from arabic numerals to alphabetic characters to distinguish them from the text footnotes. 
62592	----	Transcriber Note Text emphasis is denoted as _Italics_ and =Bold=. Whole and fractional parts of numbers as 12-3/4. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FARMERS' BULLETIN No. 1460 SIMPLE PLUMBING REPAIRS IN THE HOME PLUMBING often gets out of order, and upon prompt attention to the little repair jobs depends its smooth, satisfactory operation. This bulletin describes simple ways of doing little things, with the aid of a few simple tools, to keep home plumbing in good working order. Washington, D. C. Issued September 1925 Revised October 1936 SIMPLE PLUMBING REPAIRS IN THE HOME By George M. Warren, _associate hydraulic engineer, Division of Structures, Bureau of Agricultural Engineering_ CONTENTS Page Faucets 1 Stop and waste cocks 5 Ball cocks 6 Flush valves for low tanks 7 Clogged pipes 7 Thawing pipes 9 Removing scale from water hacks and coils 10 Leaks in pipes and tanks 11 Cracked laundry tubs 13 Hose menders or splicers 13 HOW BEST to make small plumbing repairs is a problem that comes to most householders, as it is sometimes difficult to secure the services of a plumber. In such situations a little knowledge on the part of the householder often saves much delay, trouble, and expense. Where local or State plumbing regulations are in force, and extensive repairs or alterations are contemplated, the householder should make sure that the work is duly authorized and is done by a properly qualified plumber. Few persons realize the potential danger lurking in leaky waste pipes, drains, and sewers, or in piping between systems, whereby sewage or an impure water supply may even in the slightest degree gain access to a potable water supply. In making repairs it is often necessary to tighten or to loosen a screw or nut, and the householder is sometimes uncertain in which direction it should be turned. To screw or tighten an ordinary right-hand screw, nut, or bolt, first think of the head of the part to be turned as being the face of a clock and the screw driver or wrench as being the shaft which turns the clock hands, and then rotate the tool from left to right, in the same direction that the clock hands move. Conversely, to unscrew or loosen, rotate the tool from right to left, in the direction opposite to clockwise. Small brass screws and stems are easily twisted off and rendered useless, especially if a large tool is used to turn them. Undue strain should be avoided, as it may result in the part or parts being broken at an unfortunate time. FAUCETS SEAT WASHERS Badly worn washers make faucets noisy, hard to operate, and wasteful of water. Moderate force on the handle of a faucet in good repair should stop all flow and drip. Figure 1 shows an ordinary half-inch =T=-handle compression faucet which closes against the pressure of the water. To replace the seat washer, shut off the water to the faucet. Unscrew the cap nut with a monkey wrench. (Placing cloth or thick paper between the jaws of the wrench saves marring the cap nut.) Take hold of the faucet handle and unscrew the stem from the body of the faucet. With a screw driver remove the washer screw at the bottom of the stem. This screw is often hard to start. Applying one or two drops of kerosene and lightly tapping the head of the screw may help to loosen it in the stem. Use strong, even force on the screw driver, the blade of which should have a good square edge to fit the slot. The head of the screw often splits before the shank of the screw turns in the stem, because it is already corroded and weakened. If it splits, deepen the slot in the head with a hacksaw, cutting a little into the shank of the screw. No harm is done if the saw cuts slightly into the stem of the faucet. The washer screw may now be turned with a small screw driver. Replace the old washer with a new one, replace the washer screw, screw the stem into the faucet, and screw down the cap nut. Rubber and fiber composition washers for hot- or cold-water faucets cost 10 to 15 cents a dozen. A "floating" washer, costing 15 cents, is very serviceable. A few washers of the needed sizes should be kept in the home. If none are at hand, a temporary washer may be cut from a piece of leather, rubber, or sheet packing. Leather is preferable on cold-water faucets and rubber on hot-water faucets. [Illustration: Figure 1.--Compression faucet.] [Illustration: Figure 2.--Compression faucet for a washstand.] Figure 2 shows an ordinary 3/8-inch, 4-ball-handle compression faucet for a washstand. To replace the seat washer, shut off the water to the faucet and open the faucet one or two turns of the handle. With a monkey wrench on the hexagonal part of the stuffing box unscrew the stuffing box from the body of the faucet. Lift out the stem, replace the old washer with a new one, as previously described, and screw the stuffing box into the body. A worn washer with constant leakage over the seat of a compression faucet, together with grit lodging there, often causes the seat to become cut, nicked, and grooved. The trouble occurs more often in hot-water than in cold-water faucets. Such seats can easily be reground or squared with a simple seat dressing tool, two types of which are shown in figure 3, _A_ and _B_. A seat dresser with four cutters for different-sized faucets costs about $2, and its use saves buying new faucets. To dress the seat of a faucet, unscrew the stem from the body to the faucet, as above described. Screw the adjustable, threaded cone of the tool (see fig. 3, _A_) down into the body of the faucet, as shown in figure 3, _C_, thus centering it over the seat. With the hand, as shown in figure 3, _D_, gently rotate the wheel handle at the top of the tool several times, and the cutter on the bottom of the stem squares the seat. Turn the faucet bottom side up and shake out the cuttings. Reassemble the faucet and turn on the water to wash out any remaining cuttings. [Illustration: Figure 3.--Faucet seat dressers: _A_, dresser with inside adjustable cone; _B_, dresser with outside adjustable cone; _C_, dresser A screwed into a compression faucet; _D_, rotating the wheel handle and cutter.] Seat washers are subject to damage from metal filings left in newly installed water pipes. A good plumber, before screwing up a piece of pipe, always stands the pipe on end and raps it with a hammer to clear the bore. Figure 4, _A_, shows an ordinary half-inch lever-handle Fuller faucet which closes with the pressure. As shown in figure 4, _B_, the bottom of the spindle is eccentric, so that slight turning of the handle moves the rubber ball to and from the beveled seat. To replace the ball shut off the water to the faucet. Unscrew the body from the tailpiece with the hands or with a monkey wrench on the hexagonal part of the body of the faucet. It may be necessary to apply a wrench to the hexagonal nut on the tailpiece and press the wrench downward to prevent unscrewing the tailpiece. Unscrew the stem nut, which holds the brass cap and rubber ball on the stem. Put on a new ball and replace cap and nut. Red rubber balls are considered to be better than black balls for hot-water faucets. Avoid using too large a ball, as swelling of the rubber may hinder the flow. Screw the faucet into the tailpiece. Just before the joint closes or "makes up", wrap a little string packing or candle wicking around the thread on the faucet to make the joint water-tight. [Illustration: Figure 4.--Fuller faucet: _A_, body unscrewed from tailpiece; _B_, spindle and stem removed from body.] TOP WASHERS AND PACKINGS A top washer or packing; snugly fitting the stem is necessary to prevent leakage upward through the cap nut when a faucet is opened. If the space is too tightly packed, the stem binds, nudging it hard to operate the faucet; if too loosely packed, water spurts from the top of the cap nut. Figure 5, _A_, shows a soft rubber-and-fabric top washer suitable for the compression faucet shown in figure 1. This washer is one-eighth of an inch thick and rests on the top of the body of the faucet, making a water-tight joint when the cap nut is screwed down. Just below the soft washer and inside the top of the body a thin brass washer is placed to take the wear when the faucet is fully opened. These washers are separated in the illustration but are together when placed in a faucet. [Illustration: Figure 5.--Top washers and packings: _A_, top washers commonly used in ordinary compression faucets (fig. 1); _B_, top washers which fill the space beneath the cap nut (fig. 1) _C_, candle wick packing and brass washer for washstand faucet (fig. 2); _D_, spindle packing for Fuller faucet (fig. 4).] New faucets of the kind shown in figure 1 usually have the top washers shown in figure 5, _B_. The rubber washer fills the space beneath the cap nut, and the thin fiber and brass washers are for the purposes described above. If no top washer is available, the space may be packed with candle wicking or soft twine, to which a little mutton or beef tallow should be applied to lubricate the stem, to preserve the packing, and to make it more impervious to water. When placing the top washer or washers on a compression faucet of the kind shown in figure 1, it is unnecessary to shut off the water provided the faucet is closed. With the right hand keep the faucet closed and with a monkey wrench in the left hand unscrew the cap nut. Unscrew the handle screw and remove handle and cap nut. Put on new washers as shown in figure 5, _A_, or 5, _B_, and reassemble the parts. Figure 5, _C_, shows the stem packing for the washstand faucet shown in figure 2. The packing space is very small and is filled with candle wicking lubricated with tallow. There is a thin brass friction washer in the bottom of the stuffing box, and a hexagonal packing nut screws into the top of the box. To renew the candle wicking, keep the faucet closed. Unscrew the packing nut with a monkey wrench, wrap a little wicking around the stem, and screw the packing nut down against the wicking and into the stuffing box. Spindle packing for a Fuller faucet (see fig. 4) is shown in figure 5, _D_, and consists of three collars or rings obtainable from plumbing dealers for a few cents. A lead ring or packing about one-eighth of an inch long goes first (lowest) on the spindle; then a rubber-and-fabric composition packing about one-fourth of an inch long; then a brass packing about one-fourth of an inch long. Screwing down the cap nut compresses the composition packing, and the metal packings take up friction and wear. To put in new packings, shut off the water from the faucet and remove the handle and cap nut, as described in connection with compression faucets. [Illustration: Figure 6.--Stop and waste cock; _A_, parts assembled; _B_, parts unassembled.] STOP AND WASTE COCKS Figure 6, _A_, shows an adjustable socket-lever handle, ground key, flat way, stop and waste cock to shut off water to part or all of a piping system and to drain the higher situated pipes from which the flow is cut off. A stop and waste should always be placed on the house supply pipe just inside the house or the cellar wall. They are very useful on branch pipes from a cellar or kitchen to upstairs or back rooms subject to freezing temperatures or other temporary discontinuance of the supply. Figure 6, _B_, shows the disassembled parts, all of which except the handle are brass. The key or plug is ground to a water-tight fit in the body of the cock, and water is turned on or off by giving the handle a quarter turn. Turning the handle crosswise of the pipe shuts off the supply, and the dead water drains back through the small round hole in the side of the plug and out the waste tube. Many stop and waste cocks have broken or bent handles or are otherwise rendered useless, because people do not understand them. As received from dealers, the nut on the bottom of the plug is generally screwed up tight, making it difficult or impossible to turn the handle and plug. Long periods of disuse frequently cause the plug to stick fast in the body. The plug is easily loosened by slightly unscrewing the bottom nut and striking the lower end of the plug a few light blows with a hammer. Slight leakage caused by wear of the plug or dirt around it may be prevented by cleaning the plug and tightening the bottom nut. A plug badly worn from long or continual use can be reground, but it is usually better and cheaper to get a new plug or a complete new cock. BALL COCKS Figure 7, _A_, shows an ordinary compound-lever ball cock to control the water supply in a flush tank. The float ball and the seat washer on the bottom of the plunger are the only parts likely to need repairs. The buoyancy of the float is the force which lowers the plunger, shutting off the water as the tank fills. A leaky, water-logged float holds the plunger up, permitting constant flow and waste of water. A small leak in a copper float can be soldered; but if in bad condition, the float should be replaced by a new one. A good copper, bakelite, or hard-rubber float 4 by 5 inches costs 25 to 50 cents. [Illustration: Figure 7.--Ball cock; _A_, parts assembled; _B_, plunger, washer, and cap.] Figure 7, _B_, shows the plunger and washer-holder cap which screws on the bottom of the plunger. The washer should be of soft rubber or leather, because the force which holds it to its seat is not heavy. The cap is thin brass. To replace the washer, shut off the water and drain the tank. Unscrew the two thumbscrews which pivot the float-rod lever and plunger lever. Push the two levers to the left, drawing the plunger lever through the head of the plunger. Lift out the plunger, unscrew the cap on the bottom of the plunger, insert a soft, new washer, and reassemble the parts. The cap may be so corroded and weakened that it breaks during removal from the plunger. A new cap is then necessary, and it is well to have one or two on hand. When putting a washer on a ball cock, examine the seat to see that it is free of nicks and grit. The seat may need regrinding, as explained under compression faucets. FLUSH VALVES FOR LOW TANKS Figure 8 shows a common type of flush valve for a low tank. Probably no other plumbing in the home needs attention so often. It is under water and subject to fouling and neglect. The hollow rubber ball gets out of shape and fails to drop squarely into the hollowed seat. The handle and lever fail to work smoothly or the lift wires get out of plumb, causing the ball to remain up when it should drop to its seat. To remove these difficulties, stop inflow to the tank by holding up the float of the ball cock or supporting it with a stick. Drain the tank by raising the rubber ball. If the ball is worn, out of shape, or has lost its elasticity, unscrew the lower lift wire from the ball and replace it with a new one. A 2-1/2-inch rubber ball costs about 25 cents, and a new one should always be kept in the house. The lift wires should be straight and plumb. The lower lift wire is readily centered over the center of the valve by means of the adjustable guide holder. By loosening the thumbscrew, the holder is raised, lowered, or rotated about the overflow tube! By loosening the lock nut and turning the guide screw, the horizontal position of the guide is fixed exactly over the center of the valve, these adjustments are very important. The upper lift wire should loop into the lever armhole nearest to a vertical from the center of the valve. A tank should empty within 10 seconds. Owing to lengthening of the rubber ball and insufficient rise from its seat, the time may be longer than 10 seconds and the flush correspondingly weak. This trouble may be overcome by shortening the loop in the upper lift wire. A drop or two of lubricating oil on the lever mechanism makes it work more smoothly. [Illustration: Figure 8.--Flush valve for low tank.] CLOGGED PIPES Rust and dirt in water pipes are more or less successfully removed as follows: Tie a piece of small, stout cord to each end of a 2-foot length of small chain. Each piece of cord should be a little longer than the length of pipe to be cleaned. Attach the free end of one of the cords to a stiff steel wire and push the wire and cord through the pipe. By means of the cords pull the chain back and forth through the pipe, and then thoroughly flush the pipe with clean water under strong pressure. Long lines may be opened at intervals and cleaned section by section. Other methods are: Using a swab or wire brush attached to a small steel or brass rod; flushing with a powerful hand pump; or filling the pipe with diluted muriatic acid and allowing it to stand in the pipe long enough for the acid to act. If the treatment is unsuccessful it should be repeated. A mixture of 1 part of acid and 7 parts of water allowed to stand overnight in 1,000 feet of badly rusted 1-inch pipe has given good results. After the acid treatment the pipe should be flushed long and thoroughly with clean water to remove as fully as possible all dirt, rust, and traces of acid. When new piping is put in, abrupt turns are sometimes made with =T= branches instead of elbows. The unused leg of the branch can be closed with a screw plug, thus permitting easy access to the interior of the pipe. =Caution:= When a stop and waste (or valve) on a water service is closed to permit cleaning or repairs, care should be taken to prevent the formation of a vacuum in the high parts of the water piping and the connections to plumbing fixtures; otherwise siphon action may draw pollution from water closets having water-controlled or seat-operated flush valves and from bathtubs, washbasins, laundry tubs, or other fixtures in which the spout (discharge end of the water line) is lower than the fixture rim, or worse, below the fixture overflow. Vacuum and siphon action may be destroyed by opening the highest connected faucet or an air cock in the top of the water line or by equipping the system with suitable automatic vacuum breakers. [Illustration: Figure 9.--Cleaning out a sink trap.] All waste pipes and traps are subject to fouling. Dirt collects in the bottom and grease adheres to the sides. The usual way of clearing ordinary fixtures traps is to unscrew the clean-out ping, as shown in figure 9, and wash out the obstructing matter or pull it out with a wire bent to form a hook. Small obstructions are often forced down or drawn up by the use of a simple rubber force cup (sometimes called "the plumber's friend") costing 30 to 60 cents. This device is shown in figure 10. The cup is placed over the fixture outlet and the fixture is partially filled with water. The wood handle of the cup is then worked rapidly down and up, causing alternate expulsion of the water from beneath the cup and suction upward through the waste pipe and trap. If a trap and the waste pipe from it are clogged with grease, hair, or lint, it is best to open or disconnect the trap and dig out the greasy matter with a stick. The use of chemical solvents in waste pipes is explained in Farmers' Bulletin 1426, "Farm Plumbing." [Illustration: Figure 10.--Rubber force cup.] A variety of inexpensive flexible coil wire augers and sewer rods are available for removing obstructions--mainly newspapers, rags, toilet articles, grease, garbage, or other solids--from traps, waste pipes, sewers, and drains. The growth of roots in sewers and drains causes much trouble which better workmanship in making the joints would have avoided. Augers and rods come in various sizes and lengths. Stock lengths for clean-out augers for closet bowls are 3, 6, and 9 feet and cost from $1 upward. Figure 11 shows two kinds of flexible augers for general purposes. The upper is 4 feet long and has a small steel cable from the handle to the wire hooks. The hooks can be drawn into the coil, thus facilitating entry into a trap. The lower auger is 8 feet long, has a crank handle and corkscrew point generally preferred for closet-bowl work. Placing a few sheets of toilet paper in the bowl and then flushing usually indicates whether the obstruction has been dislodged. Flexible coil steel waste-pipe cleaners commonly come in diameters of 3/16, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, and 5/8 inch and in lengths of 6, 9, 15, 25, 50, and 100 feet. The 3/16-inch size in 9-foot length without handle or corkscrew point costs about $1. The 1/4-inch size in 9-foot length with automatic grip handle costs slightly more. The small sizes are very useful in sink, lavatory, and bathtub traps and waste pipes. Flat steel sewer rods, equipped with either an oval or a revolving spear point and an automatic grip handle, come in stock lengths of 25, 50, 75, and 100 feet, in widths of 1/4 to 1-1/2 inches, and in thicknesses of 1/16 and 1/8 inch. A rod 1/16 by 3/4 inch and 50 feet long costs $4 to $5; a rod 1/8-inch thick, costing $5 to $8, is desirable for ordinary sewer-cleaning purposes. Round sewer rods of 7/8-inch hickory or ash in 3- or 4-foot lengths with hook couplings and simple sewer brushes and root cutters are described in Farmers' Bulletin 1227, Sewage and Sewerage of Farm Homes. [Illustration: Figure 11.--Coil spring augers.] THAWING PIPES The middle of a frozen pipe should never be thawed first, because expansion of the water confined by ice on both sides may burst the pipe. When thawing a water pipe, work toward the supply, opening a faucet to show when the flow starts. When thawing a waste or sewer pipe, work upward from the lower end to permit the water to drain away. Applying boiling water or hot cloths to a frozen pipe is simple and effective. Where there is no danger of fire a torch or burning news-paper run back and forth along the frozen pipe gives quick results. Underground or otherwise inaccessible pipes may be thawed as follows: Open the frozen water pipe on the house end. Insert one end of a small pipe or tube. With the aid of a funnel at the other end of the small pipe pour boiling water into it and push it forward as the ice melts. A piece of rubber tubing may be used to connect the funnel to the thaw pipe. Hold the funnel higher than the frozen pipe, so that the hot water has head and forces the cooled water back to the opening, where it may be caught in a pail. The head may be increased and the funnel may be more conveniently used if an elbow and a piece of vertical pipe are added to the outer end of the thaw pipe, as shown in figure 12. Add more thaw pipe at the outer end until a passage is made through the ice. Withdraw the thaw pipe quickly after the flow starts. Do not stop the flow until the thaw pipe is fully removed and the frozen pipe is cleared of ice. A small force pump is often used instead of a funnel and is much to be preferred for opening a long piece of pipe. If available, a jet of steam may be used instead of hot water; being hotter, it is more rapid. [Illustration: Figure 12.--Thawing a frozen pipe.] Frozen traps and waste pipes are sometimes thawed by pouring in caustic soda or lye, obtainable at grocery stores for about 25 cents per pound. Chemicals of this character should be labeled "Poison" and should be kept where children cannot get them. To prevent freezing, the water in the traps of a vacant house should be removed during cold weather, and the traps should be filled with kerosene, crude glycerin, or a very strong brine made of common salt and water, or other substance mentioned in Farmers' Bulletin 1426, Farm Plumbing. REMOVING SCALE FROM WATER BACKS AND COILS Hard water causes a limy deposit or scale on the inside of water backs and heating coils. If allowed to accumulate the scale retards the circulation and heating of the water and, by closure of the bore, may prove dangerous. Moreover, continued neglect makes it increasingly difficult to remove the scale. The water back or coil should be removed from the fire box. At the union or other joints nearest the fire box disconnect all pipes and unscrew them from the water back. If there is a clamp which holds the fire-brick lining against the oven, loosen it and remove side and end linings. Lift out the water back and take it out on the ground. Soft scale or sludge may be removed by pounding the water back with a mallet or hammer and then flushing with a strong jet of water. A long gouge or chisel is used on those surfaces that can be reached. Sometimes the water back is heated in a blacksmith's forge and then pounded, but unless carefully done this treatment may break it. Some householders keep a spare water back for use while the other is being cleaned. Waters of varying chemical composition cause scale differing in composition and hardness. Ordinary limestone (calcium carbonate) scale, if not of excessive thickness, may readily be removed with muriatic acid. Gypsum (calcium sulphate) scale is hard and resistant and with other constituents in their more compact forms is little affected by muriatic acid. The water back should be laid on the ground and filled with a strong solution of the acid in water. The strength of the solution should vary with the amount of deposit, the ordinary mixture being 1 part of acid and 5 to 7 parts of water. If the deposit is very thick, the acid needs little dilution. Commercial muriatic acid in bottles containing 6 pounds (about 2-1/2 quarts) costs 20 to 25 cents a pound. The bottle should be labeled "Muriatic acid--poison"; and, like the chemicals previously mentioned, it should be kept where children cannot get it. Heating the water back hastens the action of the acid. At the end of an hour or two, or sooner if the deposit is dissolved, pour the solution from the water back and flush it thoroughly with hot water to remove the acid. If all the deposit has not been removed, repeat the operation, making sure that the acid is completely washed out before replacing the water back. In replacing the water back it is important to have it level, using a spirit level for this purpose. Similar methods may be used with copper coils. Place the coil (or heater) on two sticks over a large bowl. With the aid of a lead funnel pour the acid solution down through the coil. Dip from the bowl and continue to circulate the solution through the coil until the deposit is dissolved. The coil should then be thoroughly washed out with hot water. The hot-water flow pipe close to a water back or coil frequently becomes thickly covered with scale. If the pipe is brass, it may be disconnected and treated with acid and then washed out with hot water. If the pipe is galvanized iron and in bad condition, it will probably be more satisfactory to replace it with new pipe. LEAKS IN PIPES AND TANKS A small leak in a water pipe can be stopped in an emergency as follows: Place a flat rubber or leather gasket over the leak and hammer a piece of sheet metal to fit over the gasket; secure both to the pipe with a clamp obtainable at hardware or 5-and-10-cent stores. A small leak under low pressure is sometimes stopped by shutting off the water and then embedding the pipe in richly mixed portland-cement mortar or concrete. Broken sewer pipe can be repaired in like manner, and a wrapping of wire netting embedded in the mortar or concrete increases its strength. However, it is better to relay the sewer and make all joints water-tight and root-proof as described in Farmers Bulletin 1227, Sewage and Sewerage of Farm Homes. A small hole in cast-iron pipe may be tapped for a screw plug. Where a leaky screw joint cannot be tightened with a pipe wrench, the leak is sometimes stopped with a blunt, chisel or calking tool and hammer. Sometimes a crack or hole is cleaned out and then plugged and calked with lead, or a commercial iron cement mixed to the consistency of stiff putty. Sometimes a pipe band, a clamp with two bolts (similar to but stronger than the one shown in fig. 14), or a split sleeve is employed to hold a thin coating of iron cement or a gasket over a leak. If the leak is at a screw joint, the band is usually coated inside with one-eighth of an inch of iron cement and then slipped over the pipe. Keeping the bolt farthest from the coupling or fitting a little tighter than the other, both bolts, are tightened. During the tightening, the band should be driven with a hammer snugly against the coupling or fitting. In addition to these methods and devices, there are several kinds of good, inexpensive, ready-made pipe and joint repairers obtainable of manufacturers and dealers. A corroded and leaky spot in a steel tank or range boiler can be closed with an inexpensive repair bolt or plug obtainable from dealers. Figure 13 shows a home-made repairer consisting of a three-sixteenths by 3-inch toggle bolt costing 10 cents and a flat rubber gasket, brass washer, and nut. The link of the bolt, after being passed through the hole, takes an upright position, and screwing up the nut forces the gasket tightly against the outside of the boiler. [Illustration: Figure 13.--Home-made repairer; _A_, passing the link of the toggle bolt through the hole (enlarged) in the tank; _B_, side view of edge of tank with bolt, washers, and nut after being tightened; _C_, outside view of completed job.] A small hole must be reamed or enlarged with a round file to a diameter of about five-eighths inch. The metal beneath the gasket should be firm and clean. A little candlewick packing may be wrapped around the bolt to prevent leakage along the bolt. Sometimes a hole is closed by driving in a tapered steel pin to turn the metal inward, forming a surface which can be tapped for an ordinary screw plug. A hole in the wall of a tank or pipe having considerable thickness can be easily and quickly closed by screwing in a tapered steel tap plug which cuts and threads its way through the wall. These plugs in different sizes are obtainable of dealers and a monkey wrench is the only tool required to insert them; it is unnecessary to shut off or drain the water from the tank or pipe. A small leak at a seam or rivet can often be closed by merely rubbing a cold chisel along the beveled edge of the joint. Do not attempt to calk a seam unless the plates have considerable thickness and the rivets are closely spaced and are close to the calking edge, and then use extreme caution. Run a regular calking tool or blunt chisel along the beveled edge, tapping the tool very lightly with a light hammer to force the edge of the upper plate against and into the lower plate. CRACKED LAUNDRY TUBS Cracks in slate, soapstone, or cement laundry tubs are made water-tight with a mixture of litharge and glycerin or a specially prepared commercial cement. The litharge and glycerin are mixed and stirred to form a smooth heavy paste free from lumps. The crack should be cleaned out to remove all grease and dirt and the paste should be worked into the crack with a case knife. A paste of portland cement and water, or of the white of an egg and fresh lump lime, has been used successfully for this purpose. [Illustration: Figure 14.--Hose menders: Above, hose mender and hose coupling; below, two pieces of hose joined with a mender. The left-hand piece is fastened with wire twisted with a pair of pliers, and the right-hand piece is clamped.] HOSE MENDERS OR SPLICERS A break in garden hose can be quickly repaired or two pieces of hose can be joined with a 10- or 15-cent iron or brass hose mender or splicer shown in figure 14 (upper left). Cut off the defective piece of hose, insert the mender in the good ends of the hose, and wire or clamp the hose as shown in figure 14 (below). Menders come to slip inside of 1/2-, 3/4-, or 1-inch hose. The regular brass hose coupling shown in figure 14 (upper right), which costs 25 to 40 cents, can be used for this purpose. U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1946 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25 D. C. -- Price 5 cents * * * * * Transcriber Note Illustrations were repositioned so as to not split paragraphs. 
59381	----	by The Internet Archive. Transcribers Note Text emphasis denoted as _Italics_ and =Bold=. SIMPLE PLUMBING REPAIRS for the Home and Farmstead [Illustration] [Illustration] Farmers' Bulletin No. 2202 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CONTENTS Page Repairing water faucets and valves 1 Frostproof hydrants 4 Repairing leaks in pipes and tanks 5 Pipes 5 Tanks 7 Water hammer 8 Frozen water pipes 8 Preventing freezing 8 Thawing 8 Repairing water closets 9 Flushing mechanism 9 Bowl removal 10 Tank "sweating" 12 Clearing clogged drains 12 Fixture and floor drains 12 Outside drains 13 Tools and spare parts 13 Emergencies 14 =Prepared by Northeastern Region Agricultural Research Service= This bulletin supersedes Farmers' Bulletin 1460, "Simple Plumbing Repairs in the Home." =Washington, D.C.= =Revised December 1972= =For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing: Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price 15 cents Stock Number 0100-02684= SIMPLE PLUMBING REPAIRS for the Home and Farmstead You can save money and avoid delays by making minor plumbing repairs yourself. Jobs that a farmer or homeowner can do with a few basic tools include: Repairing water faucets and valves. Repairing leaks in pipes and tanks. Thawing frozen pipes. Repairing water closets. Cleaning clogged drains. Extensive plumbing repairs or alterations in the plumbing system usually require authorization from local authorities and possibly inspection of the completed work. Therefore such work should be done by a qualified or licensed plumber. REPAIRING WATER FAUCETS AND VALVES Faucets and globe valves, the type of shutoff valves commonly used in home water systems, are very similar in construction (fig. 1) and repair instructions given below apply to both. Your faucets or valves may differ somewhat in general design from the one shown in figure 1, because both faucets and valves come in a wide variety of styles. Mixing faucets, which are found on sinks, laundry trays, and bathtubs, are actually two separate units with a common spout. Each unit is independently repaired. Dripping faucets are the most common plumbing problem. Normally a new washer is all that is required. If water leaks around the stem, either the packing is loose or needs replacing. To repair the faucet, first shut off the water at the shutoff valve nearest the particular faucet. Disassemble the faucet by removing the handle, packing nut, packing, and stem in that order. You may have to set the handle back on the stem and use it to unscrew and remove the stem. Remove the screw and worn washer from the stem. Clean the washer cup and install a new washer of the proper size and type. Reassemble the faucet. Handles of mixing faucets should be in matched positions. If a washer requires frequent replacement, it may be the wrong type or the seat may be rough and scoring the washer. Flat washers are used on seats having a crown or round ridge for the washer seat. Tapered or rounded washers are used with tapered seats. These seats may be replaced if worn or damaged. Replaceable seats have either a square or hex shaped water passage for the seat removal tool. Seat dressing tools are available for non-replaceable seats. Occasionally a faucet will be noisy when water is flowing. This may be due to a loose washer or worn threads on the stem and receiver, permitting the stem to vibrate or chatter. Pressing down on the handle will stop stem vibration but will not affect a loose washer. [Illustration: _Figure 1._--Globe type angle valve. Faucets are similar in construction.] Replacement stems are available; however, if the receiving threads are worn excessively a new stem would not eliminate the problem completely. In some faucets it is possible to replace the stem receiver, the stem, and the seat, thus restoring all normal wearing parts within the faucet. Several new faucet designs aimed at easier operation, eliminating drip, and promoting long service life, are on the market. Instructions for repair may be obtained from dealers. If a shower head drips, the supply valve has not been fully closed, or the valve needs repair. After extended use and several repairs, some valves will no longer give tight shutoff and must be replaced. When this becomes necessary, it may be advisable to upgrade the quality with equipment having better flow characteristics and longer-life design and materials. In some cases, ball valves will deliver more water than globe valves. Some globe valves deliver more flow than others for identical pipe sizes. Y-pattern globe valves, in straight runs of pipe, have better flow characteristics than straight stop valves. Figure 2 shows the features of different types of valves. [Illustration: _Figure 2._--Different types of valves: _A_, Glove valve; note large passages of water. _B_, Y-pattern globe valve; the flow is almost straight. _C_, Ball valve, straight flow; some makes are available with the port in the ball the same diameter as the pipe.] PRECAUTIONS Polluted water or sewage may carry such diseases as typhoid fever and amoebic dysentery. If you do your own plumbing work, be sure that-- There are no leaks in drainpipes through which sewage or sewage gases can escape. There are no cross connections between piping carrying water from different sources unless there can be reasonable certainty that all sources are safe and will remain safe. There can be no back siphonage of water from plumbing fixtures or other containers into the water-supply system. Once a pipe has become polluted, it may be difficult to free it of the pollution. For this reason, building codes do not permit the use of second-hand pipe. All initial piping and parts and subsequent replacements should be new. Since a plumbing system will require service from time to time, shutoff valves should be installed at strategic locations so that an affected portion can be isolated (water flow to it cut off) with minimum disturbance to service in the rest of the system. Shutoff valves are usually provided on the water closet supply line, on the hot- and cold-water supply line to each sink, tub, and lavatory, and on the water heater supply line. Drain valves are usually installed for water-supply piping systems and for hot-water storage tanks. A pressure-relief valve should be installed for the water heater storage tank to relieve pressure buildup in case of overheating. [Illustration: _Figure 3._--Frostproof hydrant; _A_, Closed; _B_, opened. As soon as the hydrant is closed, water left in the riser drains out the drain tube as shown in _A_. This prevents water from freezing in the hydrant in cold weather.] FROSTPROOF HYDRANTS Frostproof hydrants are basically faucets, although they may differ somewhat in design from ordinary faucets. Two important features of a frostproof hydrant are: (1) The valve is installed under ground--below the frostline--to prevent freezing, and (2) the valve is designed to drain the water from the hydrant when the valve is closed. Figure 3 shows one type of frostproof hydrant. It works as follows: When the handle is raised, the piston rises, opening the valve. Water flows from the supply pipe into the cylinder, up through the riser, and out the spout. When the handle is pushed down, the piston goes down, closing the valve and stopping the flow of water. Water left in the hydrant flows out the drain tube into a small gravel-filled dry well or drain pit. [Illustration: _Figure 4._--Vacuum breaker arrangement for outside hose hydrant.] As with ordinary faucets, leakage will probably be the most common trouble encountered with frostproof hydrants. Worn packing, gaskets, and washers can cause leakage. Disassemble the hydrant as necessary to replace or repair these and other parts. Frostproof yard hydrants having buried drains can be health hazards. The vacuum created by water flowing from the hydrant may draw in contaminated water standing above the hydrant drain level. Such hydrants should be used only where positive drainage can be provided. Frostproof wall hydrants (fig. 4) are the preferred type. For servicing sprayers using hazardous chemicals, hydrants having backflow protection should be used (fig. 5). REPAIRING LEAKS IN PIPES AND TANKS Pipes Leaks in pipes usually result from corrosion or from damage to the pipe. Pipes may be damaged by freezing, by vibration caused by machinery operating nearby, by water hammer, or by animals bumping into the pipe. (Water hammer is discussed on P. 8) [Illustration: _Figure 5._--Protected wall hydrant suitable for filling agricultural sprayers.] _Corrosion_ Occasionally waters are encountered that corrode metal pipe and tubing. (Some acid soils also corrode metal pipe and tubing.) The corrosion usually occurs, in varying degrees, along the entire length of pipe rather than at some particular point. An exception would be where dissimilar metals, such as copper and steel, are joined. Treatment of the water may solve the problem of corrosion.[1] Otherwise, you may have to replace the piping with a type made of material that will be less subject to the corrosive action of the water. [Footnote 1: For information about water treatment, see FB 2248, "Treating Farmstead and Rural Home Water Systems." You can get a free copy from your county agricultural agent or write the Office of Information, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. Include your ZIP Code in your return address.] It is good practice to get a chemical analysis of the water before selecting materials for a plumbing system. Your State college or university may be equipped to make an analysis; if not, you can have it done by a private laboratory. _Repairing Leaks_ Pipes that are split by hard freezing must be replaced. A leak at a threaded connection can often be stopped by unscrewing the fitting and applying a pipe joint compound that will seal the joint when the fitting is screwed back together. Small leaks in a pipe can often be repaired with a rubber patch and metal clamp or sleeve. This must be considered as an emergency repair job and should be followed by permanent repair as soon as practicable. Large leaks in a pipe may require cutting out the damaged section and installing a new piece of pipe. At least one union will be required unless the leak is near the end of the pipe. You can make a temporary repair with plastic or rubber tubing. The tubing must be strong enough to withstand the normal water pressure in the pipe. It should be slipped over the open ends of the piping and fastened with pipe clamps or several turns of wire. Vibration sometimes breaks solder joints in copper tubing, causing leaks. If the joint is accessible, clean and resolder it. The tubing must be dry before it can be heated to soldering temperature. Leaks in places not readily accessible usually require the services of a plumber and sometimes of both a plumber and a carpenter. Tanks Leaks in tanks are usually caused by corrosion. Sometimes, a safety valve may fail to open and the pressure developed will spring a leak. While a leak may occur at only one place in the tank wall, the wall may also be corroded thin in other places. Therefore, any repair should be considered as temporary, and the tank should be replaced as soon as possible. A leak can be temporarily repaired with a toggle bolt, rubber gasket, and brass washer, as shown in figure 6. You may have to drill or ream the hole larger to insert the toggle bolt. Draw the bolt up tight to compress the rubber gasket against the tank wall. [Illustration: _Figure 6._--Closing a hole in a tank: _A_, The link of the toggle bolt is passed through the hole in the tank (hole is enlarged if necessary). _B_, Side view of tank edge (nut is drawn up tightly to compress washer and gasket against tank). _C_, Outside view of completed repair.] WATER HAMMER Water hammer sometimes occurs when a faucet is suddenly closed. When the flow of water is suddenly stopped, its kinetic energy is expended against the walls of the piping. This causes the piping to vibrate, and leaks or other damage may result. Water hammer may be prevented or its severity reduced by installing an air chamber just ahead of the faucet. The air chamber may be a piece of air-filled pipe or tubing, about 2 feet long, extending vertically from the pipe. It must be airtight. Commercial devices designed to prevent water hammer are also available. An air chamber requires occasional replenishing of the air to prevent it from becoming water-logged--that is, full of water instead of air. A properly operating hydropneumatic tank, such as the type used in individual water systems, serves as an air chamber, preventing or reducing water hammer. FROZEN WATER PIPES In cold weather, water may freeze in underground pipes laid above the frostline or in pipes in unheated buildings, in open crawl spaces under buildings, or in outside walls. When water freezes it expands. Unless a pipe can also expand, it may rupture when the water freezes. Iron pipe and steel pipe do not expand appreciably. Copper pipe will stretch some, but does not resume its original dimensions when thawed out; repeated freezings will cause it to fail eventually. Flexible plastic tubing can stand repeated freezes, but it is good practice to prevent it from freezing. Preventing Freezing Pipes may be insulated to prevent freezing, but this is not a completely dependable method. Insulation does not stop the loss of heat from the pipe--merely slows it down--and the water may freeze if it stands in the pipe long enough at below-freezing temperature. Also, if the insulation becomes wet, it may lose its effectiveness. Electric heating cable can be used to prevent pipes from freezing. The cable should be wrapped around the pipe and covered with insulation. Thawing Use of electric heating cable is a good method of thawing frozen pipe, because the entire heated length of the pipe is thawed at one time. Thawing pipe with a blowtorch can be dangerous. The water may get hot enough at the point where the torch is applied to generate sufficient steam under pressure to rupture the pipe. Steam from the break could severely scald you. Thawing pipe with hot water is safer than thawing with a blowtorch. One method is to cover the pipe with rags and then pour the hot water over the rags. When thawing pipe with a blowtorch, hot water, or similar methods, open a faucet and start thawing at that point. The open faucet will permit steam to escape, thus reducing the chance of the buildup of dangerous pressure. Do not allow the steam to condense and refreeze before it reaches the faucet. Underground metal pipes can be thawed by passing a low-voltage electric current through them. The current will heat the entire length of pipe through which it passes. Both ends of the pipe must be open to prevent the buildup of steam pressure. CAUTION: This method of thawing frozen pipe can be dangerous and should be done by an experienced person only. It cannot be used to thaw plastic tubing or other non-electricity-conducting pipe or tubing. REPAIRING WATER CLOSETS Water closets (commonly called toilets) vary in general design and in the design of the flushing mechanism. But they are enough alike that general repair instructions can suffice for all designs. Flushing Mechanism Figure 7 shows a common type of flushing mechanism. Parts that usually require repair are the flush valve, the intake (float) valve, and the float ball. In areas of corrosive water, the usual copper flushing mechanism may deteriorate in a comparatively short time. In such cases, it may be advisable to replace the corroded parts with plastic parts. You can even buy plastic float balls. _Flush Valve_ The rubber ball of the flush valve may get soft or out of shape and fail to seat properly. This causes the valve to leak. Unscrew the ball from the lift wire and install a new one. The trip lever or lift wire may corrode and fail to work smoothly, or the lift wire may bind in the guides. Disassemble and clean off corrosion or replace parts as necessary. Most plumbing codes require a cutoff valve in the supply line to the flush tank, which makes it unnecessary to close down the whole system (fig. 7). If this valve was not installed, you can stop the flow of water by propping up the float with a piece of wood. Be careful not to bend the float rod out of alignment. _Intake (Float) Valve_ A worn plunger washer in the supply valve will cause the valve to leak. To replace the washer-- Shut off the water and drain the tank. Unscrew the two thumb-screws that hold the levers and push out the levers. Lift out the plunger, unscrew the cup on the bottom, and insert a new washer. The washer is made of material such as rubber or leather. Examine the washer seat. If nicked or rough, it may need refacing. If the float-valve assembly is badly corroded, replace it. [Illustration: _Figure 7._--Water closet (toilet) flush tank.] _Float Ball_ The float ball may develop a leak and fail to rise to the proper position. (Correct water level is about 1 inch below the top of the overflow tube or enough to give a good flush.) If the ball fails to rise, the intake valve will remain open and water will continue to flow. Brass float balls can sometimes be drained and the leak soldered. Other types must be replaced. When working on the float ball, be careful to keep the rod aliened so that the ball will float freely and close the valve properly. Bowl Removal An obstruction in the water closet trap or leakage around the bottom of the water-closet bowl may require removal of the bowl. Follow this procedure: Shut off the water. Empty the tank and bowl by siphoning or sponging out the water. Disconnect the water pipes to the tank (see fig. 7). Disconnect the tank from the bowl if the water closet is a two-piece unit. Set the tank where it cannot be damaged. Handle tank and bowl carefully; they are made of vitreous china or porcelain and are easily chipped or broken. Remove the seat and cover from the bowl. Carefully pry loose the bolt covers and remove the bolts holding the bowl to the floor flange (fig. 8). Jar the bowl enough to break the seal at the bottom. Set the bowl upside down on something that will not chip or break it. Remove the obstruction from the discharge opening. Place a new wax seal around the bowl horn and press it into place. A wax seal (or gasket) may be obtained from hardware or plumbing-supply stores. Set the bowl in place and press it down firmly. Install the bolts that hold it to the floor flange. Draw the bolts up snugly, but not too tight because the bowl may break. The bowl must be level. Keep a carpenter's level on it while drawing up the bolts. If the house has settled, leaving the floor sloping, it may be necessary to use shims to make the bowl set level. Replace the bolt covers. Install the tank and connect the water pipes to it. It is advisable to replace all gaskets, after first cleaning the surfaces thoroughly. Test for leaks by flushing a few times. Install the seat and cover. [Illustration: _Figure 8._--Connection of water closet to floor and soil pipe.] Tank "Sweating" When cold water enters a water closet tank, it may chill the tank enough to cause "sweating" (condensation of atmospheric moisture on the outer surface of the tank). This can be prevented by insulating the tank to keep the temperature of the outer surface above the dew point temperature of surrounding air. Insulating jackets or liners that fit inside water-closet tanks and serve to keep the outer surface warm are available from plumbing-supply dealers. CLEARING CLOGGED DRAINS Drains may become clogged by objects dropped into them or by accumulations of grease, dirt, or other matter. Fixture and Floor Drains If the obstruction is in a fixture trap, usually the trap can be removed and cleared. If the obstruction is elsewhere in the pipe other means must be used. Cleanout augers--long, flexible, steel cables commonly called "snakes"--may be run down drainpipes to break up obstructions or to hook onto and pull out objects. Augers are made in various lengths and diameters and are available at hardware and plumbing-supply stores. (In some cases, you may have to call a plumber, who will probably have a power-driven auger.) Small obstructions can sometimes be forced down or drawn up by use of an ordinary rubber force cup (plunger or "plumber's friend"). Grease and soap clinging to a pipe can sometimes be removed by flushing with hot water. Lye or lye mixed with a small amount of aluminum shavings may also be used. When water is added to the mixture, the violent gas-forming reaction and production of heat that takes place loosens the grease and soap so that they can be flushed away. Use cold water only. Chemical cleaners should not be used in pipes that are completely stopped up, because they must be brought into direct contact with the stoppage to be effective. Handle the material with extreme care and follow directions on the container. If lye spills on the hands or clothing, wash with cold water immediately. If any gets into the eyes, flush with cold water and call a doctor. Sand, dirt, or clothing lint sometimes clogs floor drains. Remove the strainer and ladle out as much of the sediment as possible. You may have to carefully chip away the concrete around the strainer to free it. Flush the drain with clean water. When drains have become partially clogged due to lack of water to transport all solids through them, large buckets or other containers should be used to flush them. Water should be poured fast enough to nearly fill the drain. Occasional flushing of floor drains may prevent clogging. =CAUTION: Augers, rubber force cups, and other tools used in direct contact with sewage are subject to contamination. Do not later use them for work on your potable water supply system unless they have been properly sterilized.= Outside Drains Roots growing through cracks or defective joints sometimes clog outside drains or sewers. You can clear the stoppage temporarily by using a root-cutting tool. However, to prevent future trouble, you should re-lay the defective portion of the line, using sound pipe and making sure that all joints are watertight.[2] [Footnote 2: For information on laying sewers, see Agriculture Information Bulletin 274, "Farmstead Sewage and Refuse Disposal." For a free copy, send a post card to the Office of Information, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. Include your ZIP Code in your return address.] If possible, sewer lines should be laid out of the reach of roots. But if this is impossible or impracticable, consider using impregnated fiber pipe which tends to repel roots. TOOLS AND SPARE PARTS Basic tools that you should have on hand to make simple plumbing repairs include: Wrenches, including pipe wrenches, in a range of sizes to fit the pipe, fittings, fixtures, equipment, and appliances in the system. Screwdrivers in a range of sizes to fit the faucets, valves, and other parts of the system. Ball peen hammer or a 12- or 16-ounce clawhammer. Rubber force cup (plunger or "plumber's friend"). Cold chisel and center punch. Cleanout auger ("snake"). Friction tape. Adjustable pliers. Additional tools required for more extensive plumbing repairs include: Pipe vise. Set of pipe threading dies and stocks. Hacksaw and blades (blades should have 32 teeth per inch). Pipe cutter, roller type. Tapered reamer or half-round file. Carpenter's brace. Set of wood bits. Gasoline blowtorch. Lead pot and ladle. Calking tools. Copper tube cutter with reamer (if you have copper tubing). Always use the proper size wrench or screwdriver. Do not use pipe wrenches on nuts with flat surfaces; use an adjustable or open-end wrench. Do not use pipe wrenches on polished-surface tubings or fittings, such as found on plumbing fixtures; use a strap wrench. Tight nuts or fittings can sometimes be loosened by tapping lightly with a hammer or mallet. It should not be necessary to stock a large number of spare parts. Past plumbing troubles may give some indication as to the kind of parts most likely to be needed. Spare parts should include: Faucet washers and packing. One or two lengths of the most common type and size of piping in the plumbing system. Several unions and gaskets or unions with ground surfaces. Several couplings and elbows. A few feet of pipe strap. An extra hose connection. EMERGENCIES Grouped below are emergencies that may occur and the action to take. The name, address, and phone number of a plumber who offers 24-hour service should be posted in a conspicuous place. _Burst pipe or tank._--Immediately cut off the flow of water by closing the shutoff valve nearest to the break. Then arrange for repair. _Water closet overflow._--Do not use water closet until back in working order. Check for and remove stoppage in closet bowl outlet, drain line from closet to sewer, or sewer or septic tank. If stoppage is due to root entry into pipe, repair of pipe at that point is recommended. _Rumbling noise in hot water tank._--This is likely a sign of overheating which could lead to the development of explosive pressure (Another indication of overheating is hot water backing up in the cold-water supply pipe.) Cut off the burner immediately. Be sure that the pressure-relief valve is operative. Then check (with a thermometer) the temperature of the water at the nearest outlet. If above that for which the gage is set, check the thermostat that controls burner cutoff. If you cannot correct the trouble, call a plumber. _Cold house._--If the heating system fails (or if you close the house and turn off the heat) when there is a chance of subfreezing weather, completely drain the plumbing system. A drain valve is usually provided at the low point of the water supply piping for this purpose. A pump, storage tank, hot-water tank, water closet tank, water-treatment apparatus, and other water-system appliances or accessories should also be drained. Put antifreeze in all fixture and drain traps. Hot-water and steam heating systems should also be drained when the house temperature may drop below freezing. U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1972 O-478-903 Transcriber Note Produced from material made available from the Internet Archive and is placed in the Public Domain. 
62608	----	Transcriber Notes Text emphasis is denoted as =Bold= and _Italics_. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FARMERS' BULLETIN No. 1638 RAT PROOFING BUILDINGS and PREMISES [Illustration] FOOD AND SHELTER are as essential to rats as to other animals, and the removal of these offers a practical means of permanent rat control. The number of rats on premises and the extent of their destructiveness are usually in direct proportion to the available food supply and to the shelter afforded. Rat proofing in the broadest sense embraces not only the exclusion of rats from buildings of all types but also the elimination of their hiding and nesting places and cutting off their food supply. Through open doors and in other ways, rats may frequently gain access to structures that are otherwise rat proof, but they can not persist there unless they find safe retreats and food. When rat proofing becomes the regular practice the rat problem will have been largely solved. Washington, D. C. Issued December, 1930 RAT PROOFING BUILDINGS AND PREMISES By James Silver, _Associate Biologist_, and W. E. Crouch, _Senior Biologist, Division of Predatory-Animal and Rodent Control, Bureau of Biological Survey_, and M. C. Betts, _Senior Architect, Division of Agricultural Engineering, Bureau of Public Roads_. CONTENTS Page Introduction 1 General principles of rat proofing 2 Rat-proofing farm buildings 2 Barns 5 Corncribs 7 Granaries 9 Poultry houses 9 Other farm structures 11 Rat proofing city buildings 13 Markets 18 Warehouses 19 Rat proofing the city 20 Model rat-proofing ordinances 21 INTRODUCTION THE PRINCIPLES of modern construction of buildings are opposed to everything conducive to the best interests of the rat. They call for the liberal use of indestructible and noncombustible materials, as well-made concrete and steel, and these are too much for even the sharpest of rodent incisors. They include, also, fire stopping in double walls and floors and the elimination of all dead spaces and dark corners, and the rat is left no place in which to hide. They embody sanitary features that provide for hygienic storage of food, and the rat can not live without something to eat. Many men have devoted their lives to a study of methods of rat control, and as a result countless preparations, devices, and contrivances are constantly being made available. Trapping, snaring, trailing, flooding, digging, hunting, ferreting, poisoning, and fumigating are employed, and rat limes, rat lures, rat repellents, and bacterial viruses are resorted to, and even antirat laws, local. State, and national, are constantly being passed in a world-wide effort to conquer this rodent. These have been important factors in keeping down the surplus, but all destructive agencies that have been used have utterly failed to reduce materially the total number of rats in the world. Rat proofing, however, is at last making definite headway against the age-old enemy of mankind, and it is upon this that the ultimate solution of the rat problem will depend. The destruction of rats for temporary relief and for keeping them under control in places where rat proofing is not possible or practicable will always be necessary, and knowledge of the best means of destroying rats is essential to any rat-control program. Information on poisoning, trapping, and other means of destroying rats is given in Farmers' Bulletin 1533, Rat Control. Permanent freedom from rats, however, should be the goal of everyone troubled with the pests and rat proofing offers the best means to this end. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF RAT PROOFING Every separate structure presents its individual problem, but there are two general principles that apply in all cases and that should be kept in mind when the rat proofing of any building is being considered. First, the exterior of those parts of the structure accessible to rats, including porches or other appurtenances, must be constructed of materials resistant to the gnawing of rats, and all openings must be either permanently closed or protected with doors, gratings, or screens; second, the interior of the building must provide no dead spaces, such as double walls, spaces between ceilings and floors, staircases, and boxed-in piping, or any other places where a rat might find safe harborage, unless they are permanently sealed with impervious materials. All new buildings should be made rat proof. When plans are being drawn for a building, the rat problem is frequently overlooked, usually because rats are not often present near sites selected for new structures. They are certain to come later, however, and should therefore be taken into account. Modern structures are so nearly rat proof that to make them completely so requires only slight and inexpensive changes. Furthermore, rat proofing is closely associated with fire stopping and with sanitary measures that are now required by law in many places. Cities in growing numbers have added rat proofing clauses to their building ordinances with such good effect that others are sure to follow their lead. Builders should therefore compare the cost of rat proofing during construction with the probable later cost, in case local laws should require that all buildings be made rat proof. RAT PROOFING FARM BUILDINGS The cost of rat proofing the entire premises of many American farms would amount to less than the loss occasioned by rats on the same farms during a single year. In no other place is rat proofing more badly needed or less often accomplished than on the farm. There are, however, numerous examples of rat-proof farms in nearly every county in the United States, and almost invariably they are the more prosperous farms, for the rat proofing of a farm is an indication that the farmer has learned the necessity of stopping all small leaks, which mean reduced profits. A rat-proof farm is not necessarily one in which the entire farmstead is absolutely proofed, but rather one where conditions are so unfavorable for any invading rats that they either will desert the premises of their own accord or may be easily routed by man or dogs. The source of the trouble on almost any heavily rat-infested farm can be traced directly to conditions that furnish rats safe refuges near abundant food. The commoner of these rat-breeding places are beneath wooden floors set a few inches off the ground in poultry houses, barns, stables, granaries, corncribs, and even residences; in piles of fuel wood, lumber, and refuse; in straw, hay, and manure piles that remain undisturbed for long periods beneath concrete floors without curtain walls; and inside double walls of buildings. In rat proofing the farmstead as a whole, attention should first be paid to the premises outside the buildings and later to each building separately. [Illustration: B31216 Figure 1.--An automatic garbage can, always closed] Neatness is of prime importance in keeping a place free from, rats, and providing facilities for keeping it neat should be considered part of the rat-proofing program. An incinerator, which can be made from a discarded metal drum or rolled-up poultry netting, is convenient for burning all trash and combustible waste; and a deep, covered pit with a trapdoor will take care of tin cans and other noncombustibles, if it is not practicable to haul them away at regular intervals. A covered garbage can is also indispensable on farms where table scraps are not fed directly to poultry or hogs. (Fig. 1.) Raised platforms, 18 or more inches high, should be provided upon which to pile lumber or other materials that if placed on the ground would afford shelter for rats. (Fig. 2.) Large piles of cut stove wood on many northern farms become rat infested. The same is true of manure piles adjoining barns and, to a lesser extent, of hay and straw stacks near farm buildings. These do not provide food and are attractive to rats for harbors only if near a source of food supply; moving them to a place at some distance from where foodstuffs are handled will usually solve the problem. Stone walls at times furnish excellent harborage for rats but, like the woodpile, only if there is ample food near by. Stone walls supporting embankments and driveways on sloping farmsteads are most frequently infested, and when this occurs the inviting openings can usually be readily closed with small stones and cement. Ditch banks often are a source of rat infestation, but in most climates during the warmer months only. The rodents concentrate in such places because they are less likely to be disturbed there. Rat proofing the ditch bank consists merely of burning or otherwise destroying the protective vegetation. This, of course, affords only temporary relief and should not be considered strictly rat proofing. The use of concrete in the construction of most farm buildings is usually the best means of permanently excluding the rat. Fortunately, many of the fundamentals of rat proofing are also principles of good construction. As am example, in order to support a building properly, the foundation should extend well into the ground below the frost line; rat proofing likewise requires that the foundation wall extend at least 2 feet below the surface. Rats seldom burrow deeper than 2 feet unless natural passageways assist. Foundation walls should project a foot or more above the ground in order to protect the wooden parts of the building, and this also lessens the opportunity for rats to gnaw through the wall. A rat is not likely to cling to the exposed exterior of a building a foot above the ground while it gnaws a hole through wooden sheathing or siding. It would do so very quickly, however, if such siding extended to the ground, where its work could be under cover of vegetation or behind some object, particularly when the siding becomes somewhat rotted, as would soon happen were it close to the ground. [Illustration: B3139M Figure 2.--Lumber and other stored materials piled well off the ground to prevent rat harborage] It is important that concrete be hard, as weak concrete is but a slight obstacle to the sharp rodent incisors. The mixture approved for ordinary building construction, however, is sufficiently hard to be entirely rat proof, and it is essential that approved practices of mixing and placing concrete be followed. Directions for using concrete and for building concrete floors are given in Farmers' Bulletin 1279, Plain Concrete for Farm Use, and in Farmers' Bulletin 1480, Small Concrete Construction on the Farm. Other approved building practices, such as fire stopping double walls, eliminating waste dead spaces, making doors, windows, and ventilators fit tightly, and screening or permanently stopping all openings, are also necessary in rat proofing. For simple farm buildings the foundation illustrated in Figure 3 meets all the requirements of good construction and will keep the rats out if the walls are tight. BARNS It is seldom possible to shut out rats completely from barns or entirely to cut off their food supply where livestock is fed. Little trouble will be experienced with them, however, if their harbors are eliminated. In barns rat harbors are most frequently found around stalls, under wooden mangers, and stall partitions, and beneath wooden or dirt floors. In modern barns with concrete floors, concrete or metal mangers, and metal stanchions, such places of retreat are entirely eliminated. In older barns it is desirable at least to replace wooden and dirt floors with concrete and reconstruct the mangers so that they are a foot or more off the ground. [Illustration: Figure 3.--Foundation and floor suitable for most types of farm buildings] Another common source of rat trouble, particularly in the northern half of the United States, is the hollow wall, within which rats find safe retreat and convenient runways leading to the haymow. In recent years fibrous insulating materials have been used to line the interiors of many farm buildings, and in most cases these have resulted in greatly increased rat infestation. Rats cut through these composition boards very easily and seem to be attracted by the facilities for breeding thus provided. Hollow walls of any kind accessible to rats should either be eliminated or adequately rat proofed. Such rat proofing may be accomplished by filling the hollow spaces to a height of 8 or 10 inches above the sill with cement, bricks, or other material resistant to the gnawing of rats, or a strip of galvanized metal 2 or more feet wide may be carried around the inside wall just above the sill. Old barns with wooden floors supported a few inches above the ground on girders and posts are particularly objectionable from the standpoint of rat infestation and should be rat proofed with concrete. (Fig. 4.) A concrete foundation wall extending at least 2 feet below grade is placed under the girder between the posts. The wooden posts may be removed after the wall has hardened, and the spaces left should then be filled in with concrete. A concrete floor is laid, and cement stucco on metal lath is extended up the walls for at least 2 feet, preferably to the level of window sills. Rock foundations in many old barns offer excellent harborage for rats unless pointed carefully with cement mortar. If possible, the floor should be raised to the level of the sill and the walls plastered to the window-sill level (fig. 5) in such manner as to prevent access by rats to spaces between the studs. The grain bin and other similar fixtures must always be considered in rat proofing a barn. It is most important that they be so situated or constructed that there shall be no hiding places for rats behind or under them. The grain bin should be completely lined or covered with metal and should have metal-clad lids. Any open spaces behind or under the bins should be tightly closed with metal. (Fig. 6.) [Illustration: Figure 4.--A, Detail of old barn with floor supported a few inches above ground on girders and posts; B, same barn made rat proof with concrete foundation and floors and cement-plastered walls] [Illustration: Figure 5.--Method of rat proofing old stable, A. Concreting and plastering as shown in B makes for better sanitary conditions behind stock] Other accessories of various kinds of barns should be examined carefully and remodeled or moved if necessary to exclude rats or eliminate harbors. The haymow frequently presents a difficult problem in a heavily infested barn, but the haymow alone is seldom responsible for the rats, for if all other rat harbors in the barn are effectively eliminated or shut off, the rats will not long remain with the hay as their only shelter. If the lower walls are of rough surface or composed of open studs covered on the outside, rats can climb at the corners. They may be prevented from doing so by the application of a strip of metal 8 inches wide placed just below the joists of the upper floor. Recommended construction of walls and floors in new frame barns is shown in Figure 7. [Illustration: Figure 6.--A convenient upper-story rat-proof grain bin] [Illustration: Figure 7.--Recommended construction of walls and floors of new frame barns. Cement plaster on metal lath or Insulating board is applied to the inside of the studs at least to the level of the window sills as a better protection against rats and as being more easily kept clean than wooden lining] CORNCRIBS Of all the buildings on the average farm the corncrib is usually in greatest need of rat proofing. Losses sometimes amounting to a fourth or a third of the total quantity of corn held over winter have been known. A survey in a southern State showed an average loss of 5 per cent of corn in storage; in one case 500 bushels were destroyed in one crib during one winter. The amount of this loss would have been sufficient to pay for rat proofing the crib several times over. In building or remodeling a corncrib; therefore, it is most important that it be made permanently rat proof. Probably the most satisfactory method of accomplishing this with the common slat-sided corncrib is entirely to cover the walls and ceiling on the inside and the wooden floors on the under side with woven-wire mesh or hardware cloth, two or three meshes to the inch. A heavy grade of woven wire should be used, 12 or 15 gage, and galvanized after weaving. Painting with a tar or asphaltic paint increases its durability. [Illustration: Figure 8.--Suggested construction for corncrib: A, Section through wall; B, section through door, which is made of cribbing on vertical battens; the metal band on the wall extends across the door, but is cut and bent Inward at the edges of the door; C, plan of door; D, enlarged detail of Jamb at closing side of door] Another method, and one that is less expensive and quite effective as long as kept in good repair, is shown in Figure 8. Wire netting should be carried around the entire crib to a height of 2 feet or more from the top of the foundation. A strip of galvanized iron 8 inches wide should be fastened above the wire netting. The joints between the foundation and netting and between the netting and metal strip must be tight. As rats are unable to gain a footing on the smooth metal and can not climb over it, it is unnecessary to use wire netting above the strip. Care should be taken to join the lengths of metal tightly and to carry the wire netting and strips of metal across and around both sides of doors and door jambs. It is also advisable to provide doors with springs or weights to insure their remaining closed. [Illustration: B31365 Figure 9.--An inexpensive method of rat proofing a corncrib. It is supported by glazed tiles capped with galvanized washtubs, which, though not attractive in appearance, have successfully kept out rats] If possible the corncrib should have a concrete foundation and floor, as illustrated. Otherwise it should be elevated on posts or piers so that it will have a clearance underneath of feet or more. If the supporting posts or piers are covered with sheet metal, or are protected at the top with metal collars or disks extending at least 9 inches out from the posts, rats will be kept out of the crib. Old cribs can often be rat proofed in this manner at little expense. Dish pans and washtubs make convenient rat guards. (Fig. 9.) It is important that the area beneath the corncrib be kept clear and that nothing that the rats can climb be leaned against it.[1] [1] Plans for a 2,000-bushel corncrib (design No. 521) are available upon request addressed to the Bureau of Public Roads, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. GRANARIES The rat proofing of granaries is of great importance, because of the abundance of food stored there and the corresponding opportunity for serious loss. The granary with concrete foundation and floors, tight-fitting doors, and screened ventilators presents no unusual problem, except possibly in connection with the elevator pit, which should be carefully checked against possible means of ingress for rats. Small wooden and portable granaries should be protected with wire netting. (Fig. 10.) Concrete feeding floors, troughs (fig. 11), water tanks, hog wallows, and similar structures should be constructed with a curtain wall, or apron, around the outer edge extending 2 feet or more into the ground (fig. 12) to keep the rats from burrowing underneath the slab. This also tends to prevent the heaving caused by frost and the uneven settling of the structure in soft ground. [Illustration: Figure 10.--Recommended method of rat proofing a portable granary] POULTRY HOUSES It is not practicable to attempt to exclude rats from poultry houses, but such buildings can easily be made proof against serious trouble by the elimination of all places where the rodents can obtain safe harborage. Most rat infestation around poultry plants is due to the presence of numerous shelters and suitable breeding places. Three things are particularly to be avoided: Wooden floors on or within a few inches of the ground; double walls; and nest boxes, feed hoppers, and other fixtures placed so as to provide shelter for rats under or behind them. From a rat-proofing standpoint the floors as well as the foundation should be made of concrete. (Fig. 13.) If this is not considered practicable, wooden floors should be elevated so as to insure a clear space of 2 or more feet between the floor and the ground. Warmth can be provided, if necessary, by two thicknesses of flooring with tar paper between. Hollow walls almost invariably furnish harborage for rats. The inner stud covering therefore, should be torn out, but if warmth is a factor to be considered, siding should be put over sheathing on the outside of the studs with building paper between.[2] [2] The construction of poultry houses and fixtures is described in Farmers' Bulletin 1554, Poultry Houses and Fixtures. [Illustration: B4390M Figure 11.--Rat proof pigpens and feeding troughs are easy to keep clean and sanitary, and rats have little opportunity to steal the feed] [Illustration: Figure 12.--A concrete curtain wall or apron under a feeding floor prevents raveling of earth and consequent breaking of the slab, as well as the harboring of rats] Portable laying and brooder houses frequently become heavily infested because they are usually built with wooden floors removed from the ground only by the height of the runners on which they are constructed and are seldom moved as frequently as originally intended. Feed, sifting through the floors, attracts rats, which after finding desirable shelter soon establish themselves in burrows beneath the houses and multiply rapidly. Portable houses, therefore, should be raised off the ground 2 or more feet. Nests should be raised 2 or more feet above the floor, and feed and grit hoppers at least 1 foot. Drinking vessels for water and skim milk should supported on a platform 1 to 1½ feet above the floor, so as to eliminate the possibility of rat shelters and keep the liquids in a more sanitary condition. Other equipment should be given the same consideration. The premises around the poultry house should be cleared of all rat harbors by elevating all objects under which a rat can find shelter. (Fig. 14.) Near-by buildings particularly should be considered, for it is frequently found that rats living exclusively on poultry feed occupy harbors 50 or more feet away from the food source. For this, reason it is desirable to build poultry plants at least 100 feet from any possible rat harborage. The vast number of young chicks killed annually by rats would be greatly reduced if these simple precautions were taken. [Illustration: 13740C Figure 13.--Rat proofing a poultry house by laying a concrete floor] OTHER FARM STRUCTURES There are many farm buildings of various kinds that should be made proof against rats. In most cases, however, the application of the general principles of rat proofing, as previously explained, will suffice. Not only should all buildings in which food is kept be made inaccessible to rats, but adjoining and near-by buildings and premises as well. The procedure to be followed in the case of farm dwellings is omitted here, as sufficient is included under the next heading, Rat Proofing City Buildings, the conditions with respect to dwellings on farms and in towns being quite similar. Outside cellars frequently become infested with rats, and great havoc to stored produce almost invariably results. Considerable expense, if necessary, is justified in making the storage cellar rat proof. A cellarway with wooden steps and sills and earth floor is usually the source of the trouble. The sill soon rots or the rats burrow under it to gain entrance. The remedy is to construct a concrete floor and cellarway. This not only will exclude rats but will prove more economical in the long run. (Fig. 15.) [Illustration: 7651-C Figure 14.--Coop built up off the ground, rather than with the floor resting on the ground and thereby affording rats a desirable hiding place.] [Illustration: Figure 15.--A, Cellarway before rat proofing; B, cellarway rat proofed] RAT PROOFING CITY BUILDINGS In rat proofing a city building it is well first to look to the exterior. If the locality is heavily infested with rats, some are almost certain sooner or later to find their way into the building however well protected against them it may be. Garbage and trash usually comprise the bulk of the rats' food supply. A metal, water-tight garbage can, large enough to contain all garbage accumulations between collections and having a close-fitting lid (fig 1), is of prime importance and should be required in all cases by city law. [Illustration: B2008M Figure 16.--An accumulation of trash such as this Is almost certain to attract rats and should be prohibited by law] Large accumulations of trash usually, contain much waste food (fig. 16) and are certain to attract rats and furnish an ideal breeding place for them. Furthermore, they are a menace to health and should not be tolerated under any circumstances. All other rat harbors, such as wooden floors and sidewalks very near the ground, should be removed or replaced with concrete, and piles of lumber and various materials stored out of doors should be removed or elevated 18 or more inches. Particular care should be taken to see that sheds and other outbuildings, porches, steps, loading platforms, and similar structures on the premises are made rat proof, either by the use of concrete, by elevation, or by keeping them open to the light and easily accessible. A thorough inspection should next be made of the building itself and careful note taken of alterations and repairs necessary for a thorough job of rat proofing. Inspection should begin in the basement. Doors and windows should fit snugly, particularly doors leading to outside stairs or elevators, and these should also be provided with automatic closing devices. Windows and ventilators should be screened or covered with gratings, the openings not more than half an inch square. Defects in basement floors should be repaired with concrete, and floor drains should be fitted with tight covers, (Fig. 17.) [Illustration: B3341M:B3331M Figure 17.--A, Broken floor drains provide a ready means for invasion by rats; B, rat tracks in freshly laid concrete around newly repaired drain show that before repairs were made the drain was a rat highway] Side walls should be carefully inspected, and all openings made for plumbing (fig. 18), electric-wire conduits, areas around windows and doors, and unpointed joints in masonry walls (frequently left when the exterior of the wall is hidden from public view by porches or platforms) should be carefully closed with cement mortar. (Fig. 19.) [Illustration: B28391:B4391M Figure 18.--A, Openings around pipes are a common source of rat infestation; B, situations like this give rats access to otherwise rat-proof buildings] Basement ceilings, when accessible to rats, cause much trouble, and frequently the best remedy is to remove them entirely. In frame construction spaces between studs in walls opening into basements also are a common cause of rat infestation of the whole building. The permanent closing of these spaces with noncombustible material not only shuts out the rats but also reduces the fire hazard by stopping the drafts and the rising of heated gases should a fire start in the basement. This process of blocking spaces between studs and furring is commonly known as fire stopping and is of such importance that the building regulations of many cities now require it. Figure 20 illustrates practical methods of rat proofing stud spaces in old buildings. [Illustration: B4388M Figure 19.--Defects in foundations, such as the opening to the right of the step, are often the cause of rat infestation in old buildings] All openings between floors and in partitions made for the passage of pipes and wires and any defects in the wall should be closed with metal flashing. All dead spaces throughout the building, such as boxed-in plumbing, spaces behind or beneath built-in cabinets, counters, shelving, bins, show windows, and many similar places, should be removed, opened up, or effectively and permanently proofed against rats. In the Southern States, where the roof rat occurs, similar care must be taken to make the upper floors and roofs of buildings rat proof, as this rat is an expert climber and frequently enters buildings by way of the roof. Doors at the top of stairs and elevators should fit snugly, and all ventilators, exhaust fans, unused chimney flues, and other openings should be screened. Broken skylights and openings under eaves and places where electric wires enter the building should be repaired or closed. [Illustration: Figure 20.--Methods of rat proofing stud spaces in old buildings: A, Construction at outer wall. Open stud spaces are filled with weak concrete, which is placed by removing the skirting above. If the work is done a little at a time, the wooden forms can be removed when the concrete has set, and used again. B, Another method employing sheet metal secured to sill, joist, and flooring. C, Post and girder in basement supporting partition with open stud spaces. Sheet metal nailed to joists and floor and fitted about the stud prevents access to upper floors] [Illustration: Figure 21.--A, Typical construction of frame building on wooden girders and posts with Joists more than 2 feet above ground; B, sheet metal placed as shown serves to prevent the rats from climbing to a point where they can gnaw through the wood] Buildings that have neither basements nor continuous masonry foundations present more difficult rat-proofing problems. The most effective procedure is to construct a concrete foundation wall between the existing supports and, after the wall has hardened, remove the supports, if of wood, and replace them with concrete to make the wall continuous. Where the cost prohibits following this plan and where the supporting sill and joists are at least 2 feet above the ground level, satisfactory rat proofing may be attained by stopping the spaces between the studs with weak concrete or other material resistant to rats for a distance of 8 inches above the floor level, or with galvanized-metal flashing nailed to the joists, plate, and floor. (Fig. 21.) The space beneath the building must be free from all rubbish and other material that would afford shelter for rats. A continuous masonry foundation, with screened openings to provide ventilation, presents a more pleasing appearance. [Illustration: Figure 22.--A, Concrete curtain, or area wall, designed for rat-proofing purposes; it does not support the building. B, Plan of wall where supports are of wood; the concrete is bound to the posts with wire mesh. C, Plan of masonry support; concrete will adhere to the masonry if the surface is roughened] If the clearance between the ground level and the bottom of girders and joists is less than 2 feet, it may provide a hazardous rat harbor. One of three things should be done: The building should be elevated on piers 2 feet above the ground; a concrete foundation should be built as described above; or a continuous concrete curtain wall should be constructed under the entire outer wall of the building. (Fig. 22.) Most new city buildings are now built practically rat proof, or could be made so with only minor changes in the plans and at small cost. Yet if certain essential details are not included at the start, endless rat troubles are likely to ensue. It is therefore highly desirable that plans for every new building include specifications for rat proofing. All new buildings in which foodstuffs are to be handled should have ground floors of concrete or other rat-proof material and concrete or masonry walls extending at least 2 feet below and 1 foot above the ground surface. All unnecessary openings in the foundation, walls, and floors should be permanently closed, and windows and ventilators should be screened. Stud spaces in frame construction should be stopped with noncombustible material resistant to rats. New buildings in which foodstuffs are not to be handled may, if desired, be elevated on piers or posts to provide a clearance of 2 feet between the ground level and the bottom of the supporting girders, although the concrete or masonry wall is more satisfactory. MARKETS Public, farmers', and wholesale markets, commission houses, and similar places where vast quantities of foodstuffs are assembled and redistributed are nearly always infested with large numbers of rats. Such structures are usually concentrated in districts, and these often become rat-breeding centers, from which the rats constantly overflow to adjoining sections of the city. Rat proofing a district of this kind would seem to be almost hopeless, yet it has often been demonstrated that the task is not only feasible but entirely practicable. . Here, more than anywhere else, the great need is the elimination of rat shelters, which in turn means the free use of concrete or other masonry. Scrupulous cleanliness is essential in markets, but even where this is practiced it is not possible completely to eliminate rat food, so the main reliance must be placed on the removal of all rat harbors. Not only must the building in which the market is housed be rat proofed, but also all the fixtures. In old public markets the stalls were frequently constructed as if designed for the protection of rats. Dark, out-of-the-way holes under counters, stands, and shelves afford convenient places for the accumulation of trash, which it would be well to destroy; and in such locations, with abundance of food at hand, rats are in the best possible position to thrive and multiply. The use of smooth concrete or tile counters (fig. 23) erected on concrete floors deprive rats of the essential shelter, provided that the space underneath the counter is kept clean and that stored material is moved frequently. The smooth surface also prevents the rats from climbing and makes it possible to leave edible products on the counter overnight without fear of their being damaged or contaminated by the rodents. If wooden floors are used, the boards should be laid flat on the concrete or on sleepers not more than half an inch high. [Illustration: B3137BM Figure 23.--Rat proof market stalls. Rats are unable to climb the smooth tiles to get at foodstuffs left on the counter] WAREHOUSES Warehouses require rat proofing because of the great quantities of foodstuffs handled there and even stored for long periods. It is essential that the building itself be rat proofed with concrete or masonry foundation, concrete floors, and tight-fitting doors lined with metal at the base. Doors of warehouses frequently become jammed as a result of heavy trucking and should be carefully watched for defects that would admit rats. Concrete floors, in addition to being rat proof and fire proof, save labor because of the comparative ease with which loaded trucks can be rolled over them. When warehouses are found to be seriously infested with rats, the trouble can usually be traced to such faulty construction as allows the rats access to spaces beneath floors or within walls, or even provides exits to near-by shelter outside. Eats also gain entrance to rat-proofed warehouses through being shipped in with produce or when doors are left open, and once inside they may persist and do much damage from shelter afforded by piles of stored goods. Such damage, however, is usually small in comparison with that resulting from permanent rat harbors beneath floors, and the rats can be destroyed much more easily. A report from one flour warehouse indicated that it cost more than $3,000 a year to repair bags gnawed by rats and mice. Such a loss would go far toward rat proofing any premises. A common cause of rat depredations in warehouses is the construction of platforms a few inches off the floor upon which to pile flour and other produce. Such platforms provide permanent shelter for rats and should be eliminated. Boards may be laid flat on the concrete floor with no spaces between them to afford rat harbors; or, if this is not sufficient proof against dampness, the platforms should be raised a foot or more off the floor to admit light. In such a place a rat does not feel safe and will not stay. Bags of flour, grain, and other produce furnish harborage that can not well be avoided, but such goods are usually moved so frequently that rats do not have opportunity to RAT PROOFING THE CITY Rat proofing the city is a responsibility of the city government. The greatest force that can be exerted to-day toward the permanent suppression of the rat pest is through the passage of practical building ordinances that require the rat proofing of buildings and the adoption of sanitary regulations that will insure clean premises and adequate collection and disposed of garbage. It has been demonstrated that such requirements not only are effective in reducing the numbers of rats to the minimum, but also that they greatly improve health conditions, reduce the fire hazard, and from a purely economic standpoint are profitable. In one city in which rat proofing has been vigorously prosecuted for a number of years and in which more than 80 per cent of the old buildings have been made proof against rats, the sharp decline in the number of fires resulted in a 5 per cent reduction in the fire-insurance rates. More than $1,000,000 was spent in the same city in rat proofing 10 miles of docks, but even this large expenditure was found to be a profitable investment. Probably nothing so nearly reflects the sanitary conditions of a city as the number of rats that it harbors, for the rat population is usually in inverse ratio to the degree of sanitation maintained. In 1930 at least 13 cities in this country had rat-proofing laws, and more than 30 others had fire-stopping requirements that are important in rat proofing. An effective rat-proofing program must be practicable and not too drastic; otherwise it will fail from lack of popular support. Attempts to enforce rat proofing of existing structures would probably not be feasible unless under stress of an outbreak of bubonic plague or other rat-borne disease epidemic. There seems to be no good reason, however, why buildings constructed in the future or remodeled should not be made rat proof under the requirements of building ordinances. Had such ordinances been enacted 50 years ago and rigidly enforced since that time the large majority of buildings to-day would be rat proof, and rats, with their accompanying filth and destructiveness, would have been largely eliminated. There would also be fewer of the unsightly and insanitary shacks now existing in most cities, and the average structure would be of a more desirable type. As modern construction conforms so closely in principle to the requirements of rat proofing, there should be little, if any, opposition among builders to a rat-proofing clause in building ordinances. In considering the suppression of rats, at the outset city authorities should discard all methods other than those that strike at the source of the trouble. The actual destruction of rats is necessary as a temporary means of stopping their depredations, but modern construction and sanitation are the weapons that must be relied upon to gain permanent relief. In addition to a rat-proofing ordinance, every city should have a law requiring that all garbage wherever accumulated be kept in rat-proof containers or garbage cans until collected or until destroyed by incineration or otherwise disposed of in a manner that would avoid the possibility of its providing food for rats. Containers should have covers not easily removed by dogs and other animals. The city should also enact regulations prohibiting the accumulation of trash, refuse, or waste matter of any kind on either public or private premises, and should provide adequate means for collecting and disposing of all waste. Consideration should also be given to the sewer system. Although most modern sewers do not offer opportunity for the unrestricted breeding of rats, there are many still in use that furnish harbors for large numbers of these pests in sections of some cities. Of most importance is the corner catch basin, storm sewer, or street-drainage opening, which should be effectively remodeled, if necessary, to provide smooth interior vertical walls with a drop of at least 3 feet; rats are unable to jump 3 feet vertically or to climb smooth surfaces. Another place that should receive attention is the city dumping ground, which frequently serves as an incubator for rats, and these soon overflow into near-by sections of the city. A study should be made of methods of disposing of waste materials and a system put into effect that will meet the requirements of the city and insure the destruction, removal, or adequate covering of all such food for rats. Any other conditions that may be found favorable for the breeding of rats, whether on public or on private property, should be declared a public nuisance and ordered corrected. MODEL RAT-PROOFING ORDINANCES The samples or models of rat-proofing and garbage-removal ordinances here given were prepared by the United States Public Health Service as a result of its experience in combating bubonic plague in several coastal cities. They have, in substance, been adopted and put into practice by a number of cities and have been found practicable. They should be applicable to any city after necessary allowance and possible changes have been made to conform to local conditions and constitutional considerations. AN ORDINANCE DEFINING RAT PROOFING OF ALL BUILDINGS[3] [3] U. S. Pub. Health Serv. Bul. 121, Preliminary Report on Proposed Antiplague Measures in Massachusetts. Section 1. _Be it ordained, etc._, That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation hereafter to construct any building, outhouse, or other superstructure, stable, lot, open area, or other premise, sidewalk, street, or alley, or to repair or remodel the same to an extent of -------- per cent of cost of construction within the city of --------, unless the same shall be rat proofed in the manner hereinafter provided for. Sec. 2. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That for the purpose of rat proofing all buildings, outhouses, and other superstructures in the city of --------, except stables, shall be divided into two classes, to wit, class A and class B, and the same shall be rat proofed in the manner following, to wit: _Class A._--All buildings, outhouses, and other superstructures of class A shall have floors made of rat-proof material or of concrete, which concrete shall be not less than 3 inches thick, and overlaid with a top dressing of cement, mosaic, tiling, or other impermeable material laid in cement mortar, and such floor shall rest without any intervening space between upon the ground or upon filling of clean earth, sand, cinders, broken stone or brick, gravel, or similar material, which filling shall be free from animal or vegetable substances; said floor shall extend and be hermetically sealed to walls surrounding said floor, which walls shall be made of rat-proof material or of concrete, stone, or brick laid in cement or mortar, and each wall shall be not less than 6 inches thick and shall extend into and below the surface of the surrounding ground at least 2 feet and shall extend not less than 1 foot above the surface of said floor; provided that wooden removable gratings may be laid on such concrete floors in such parts of such buildings, superstructures, and outhouses as are used exclusively as sales departments, provided that wooden flooring may be laid over the concrete wherever the intervening space between such flooring and the concrete shall not exceed one-half inch; provided further that any sleepers that are sunk into the concrete shall be creosoted. _Class B._--All accidental and unnecessary spaces and holes, ventilators, and other openings other than doors and windows in every building, outhouse or other superstructure in the city of --------, shall be closed with cement, mortar, or other material impervious to rats or screened with wire having not more than one-half inch mesh, as the case may require, and all wall spaces shall be closed with cement, mortar, or other material impervious to rats, which closure shall extend the full thickness of the wall and shall extend upward at least twelve inches above the floor level, and the whole in such manner as to prevent the ingress or egress of rats; or the ingress or egress of rats from such double wall or space may be prevented by protecting the junction of said wall with the floor or other wall with metal flashing of galvanized iron of 28 or 30 gauge, provided that where such double wall is open beneath or is in communication with foundations of the house that said opening shall be effectively closed or said junction with foundations flashed with metal as provided above: _Provided_, That in all buildings, outhouses, and other superstructures of class A and in all stables where there are any spaces in walls between the wall proper and the covering on same, or in ceilings between the ceiling and floor, or other ceiling covering above, said spaces shall be eliminated by the removal of said covering, or so closed with cement, mortar or other material impervious to rats as to prevent the ingress or egress of rats: _Provided_, That all such wall spaces shall be closed with cement, mortar, or other material impervious to rats, which closure shall extend the full thickness of the wall and shall extend upward at least twelve inches above the floor level. The cellar of every building hereafter erected within the building limits shall be made rat proof by the use of masonry or metal. All openings in foundations, cellars and basements In such buildings, except for doors and hatchways, and except also for such windows wholly above ground as may be exempted by the -------- in his discretion, shall be completely covered with screens of metal having meshes of not more than one-half of an inch in least dimension and constructed of rods or wire of not less than twelve gauge. All buildings, outhouses, and other superstructures of class B separated from any other building on three sides by at least ten feet and lacking any basement or cellar may be rat proofed in the following manner, to wit: Said building, outhouse, or other superstructure shall be set upon pillars or underpinning of concrete, stone, or brick laid in cement mortar, or may be set upon underpinning of substantial timber, such pillars or underpinning to be not less than eighteen inches high, the height to be measured from the ground level to the top of said pillars or underpinning; and the intervening space between said building and the ground level to be open on three sides and to be free from all rubbish and other rat harboring material, or may be made rat proof by constructing at the margin of the ground area of said building a wall of concrete or brick or stone laid in cement; such wall to extend into and below the surface of the ground at least two feet and to meet the floor of the building above closely and without any intervening space, to be at least four inches thick and extend entirely around said building _Provided_, That said walls may be built with openings therein for ventilation only: _And provided further_, That such openings for ventilation may be all of such size as the owner may elect and shall be securely screened with metallic gratings having openings between the bars of said gratings of not more than one-half inch or with wire mesh of not less than twelve gauge, having openings between the wires of said mesh of not more than one-half inch and the whole so constructed and closed as to prevent the entrance of rats beneath such building. Sec. 3. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That every restaurant kitchen, hotel kitchen, cabaret kitchen, dairy, dairy depot, dock, wharf, pier, elevator, store, manufactory, and every other building, outhouse, or superstructure wherein or whereon foodstuffs are stored, kept, handled, sold, held, or offered for sale, manufactured, prepared for market or for sale, except stables, shall be rat proofed in the manner provided for hereinabove as class A: _Provided_, That such part of any structure hereinabove defined as of class A that shall be entirely over a body of water may be rat proofed as of class B, as hereinafter provided for. "Foodstuffs," as used in this ordinance, is hereby defined to be flour and flour products, animals and animal products, produce, groceries, cereals, grain, and the products of cereals and grain, poultry and its products, game, birds, fish, vegetables, fruit, milk, cream, and products from milk or cream, ice cream, hides, and tallow, or any combination of any one or more of the foregoing. All other buildings, outhouses, and superstructures, except stables, not hereinbefore specified as class A, and all buildings used exclusively for residential purposes, shall be rat proofed in the manner provided for hereinabove as class B: _Provided_, That the owner of any building, residence, outhouse, or other superstructure in class B may, if he so elects, rat proof same in the manner provided for in class A. _Provided_, That in any case where, under the foregoing provisions, any building, outhouse, or superstructure is required to be rat proofed as of class A and the said building or outhouse or superstructure is used in part for residential purposes, and the part used as a residence is effectively separated from the part falling within class A, by permanently and effectively closing all openings above and below the ground floor, or by constructing a new wall, and in either case the whole in such manner as to make such wall whole and continuous in its entirety, without doorways, windows, or other openings between the part used as a residence and that used for such purposes as makes it fall within class A, then in such case and for rat-proofing purposes only, the said building will, after such separation and closure of the openings, or by the construction of such new wall, be deemed to be two buildings; and that part used exclusively for residential purposes may be rat proofed in the manner provided for as a class B building, and the remaining part of said building shall be rat proofed in the manner provided for a class A building. _Stables._--Stables and all buildings hereafter to be constructed and used for stabling horses, mules, cows, and other animals shall be constructed as follows: Walls: The walls of such buildings shall be constructed of concrete, brick, or stone, laid in cement mortar, and shall be not less than four inches thick, and shall extend into and below the surface of the surrounding ground not less than two feet, and shall extend above the ground sufficient height as to be not less than one foot above the floor level. All openings in such foundation walls shall be covered with metal grating having openings not greater than one-half inch between the gratings. Floors: The floors of stables and stalls shall be of concrete not less than three inches thick, upon which shall be laid a dressing not less than one-half inch thick of cement or stone, laid in cement mortar, or shall be constructed of floated concrete not less than four inches thick, in such way as to prevent ingress or egress of rats, and such floors to have a slope of one-eighth inch per foot to the gutter drain hereinafter provided for. Stalls: The floors of stalls may be of planking, fitting either tightly to the concrete floor or elevated not more than one-half inch from the stall floor, and so constructed as to be easily removable. Such removable planking shall be raised at least once a week, and the said planking and the concrete floor beneath thoroughly cleansed. Gutters: Semicircular or =V=-shaped gutters shall be constructed in such manner that a gutter shall be placed so as to receive all liquid matter from each stall, and each of these gutters to connect with the public sewer or with a main gutter of the same construction, which in turn shall be connected with the public sewer or public drain. All openings from drains into sewers shall be protected by a metal grating having openings not more than one-half inch between the gratings. Mangers: Each manger shall be constructed so as to have a slope of two inches toward the bottom, shall be covered with tin or zinc, and shall be at least eighteen inches deep, to avoid spilling of food. Feed bins: All feed bins shall be constructed of cement, stone, metal, or wood, and with close-fitting doors. If constructed of wood, the bins shall be lined or covered with metal, and the whole so constructed as to prevent the ingress or egress of rats. All grain, malt, and other animal food, except hay, stored or kept in any stable, must be kept in such feed bins. Said feed bins must be kept closed at all times, except when momentarily opened, to take food therefrom or when same are being filled. No feed shall be scattered about such bin or stable, and all such feed found on the floor or in the stalls of said stables shall be removed daily and placed in the manure pits. No foodstuffs intended for or susceptible of human consumption shall be kept or stored in any stable or any other place where animals are kept. Sec. 4. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That the construction and materials used in rat proofing shall conform to the building ordinances of the city of --------, except and only in so far as the same may be modified herein. Sec. 5. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That all premises, improved and unimproved, and all open lots, areas, streets, sidewalks, and alleys in the city of -------- shall be kept clean and free from all rubbish and similar loose material that might serve as a harborage for rats; and all lumber, boxes, barrels, loose iron, and similar material that may be permitted to remain thereon and that may be used as a harborage by rats shall be placed on supports and elevated not less than two feet from the ground, with a clear intervening space beneath, to prevent the harboring of rats. Sec. 6. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That all planking and plank walks on and in yards, alleys, alleyways, streets, sidewalks, or ether open areas shall be removed and replaced with concrete, brick, or stone, laid in cement, gravel, or cinders, or the ground left bare. Sec. 7. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That it shall be the duty of every owner, agent, and occupant of each building, outhouse, and other superstructure, stable, lot, open area, and other premises, sidewalk, street, and alley in the city of -------- to comply with all the provisions of this ordinance. Sec. 8. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That it is hereby made the duty of --------, and particularly through its health department, to enforce the provisions of this ordinance. Sec. 9. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That any law or ordinance in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance be, and the same is hereby, repealed. * * * * * AN ORDINANCE REGULATING THE REMOVAL OF GARBAGE Section 1. _Be it ordained -------- of the city of --------_, That from and after the promulgation of this ordinance, the owner, agent, and occupant of every premise, improved or unimproved, in the city of --------, whereon or wherein garbage shall be created, shall provide a metal, water-tight container or containers, each with a tight-fitting cover, such container or containers to be of such size as to be easily manhandled, and of such number as to receive the garbage accumulation of five days from each such premise, and shall place or cause to be placed such container or containers, for the purpose of having their contents removed, on the sidewalks or open alleys in front or rear of said premises, at the times hereinafter set forth. Sec. 2. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That for the purposes of this ordinance, the city of -------- is hereby divided into -------- garbage districts. Sec. 3. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That for the purpose of this ordinance, the word "garbage" as used in this ordinance shall be construed to mean house and kitchen offal, and all refuse matter not excrementitious liquid, and composed of animal or vegetable substances, including dead animals (except cows, horses, mules, and goats) coming from public and private premises of the city, and not destined for consumption as food. Sec. 4. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That it shall be unlawful for such owner, agent, or occupant of any such premise to have, maintain, or keep any garbage on any premise except in such garbage containers as are provided for in section 1 of this ordinance. Sec. 5. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That such garbage containers shall be kept tightly covered at all times, except when momentarily open to receive the garbage or to have the contents therefrom removed, as provided for hereinafter. Sec. 6. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That when such garbage container is placed on the outside of any premise it shall be unlawful for any person engaged in the removal of garbage, or for any person to remove the cover from such garbage container, except for the purpose of emptying its contents Into a duly authorized garbage wagon or to throw such garbage container on the street or sidewalk, or to injure it in any way, so as to make it leak or to bend it or its cover, as to prevent said garbage container from being tightly covered; and all persons engaged in the removal of garbage shall, after emptying said container, replace the cover tightly on said container. Sec. 7. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That the owner, agent, or occupant of every premise in the city of -------- shall keep separate from their garbage and ashes, tin cans, broken crockery, hardware, old planks, wooden matter, paper, sweepings and other trash, and place same in a sound, substantial vessel or container kept for that purpose, which vessel or container shall be placed on the sidewalk or alley in front or rear of each premise of the city of --------, as provided in section 1 of this ordinance, for garbage containers, for removal on --------, provided that such rubbish, other than garbage, may be so placed -------- on --------. Sec. 8. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That the provisions of this ordinance shall apply to all public and private markets, as well as all places of business, hotels, restaurants, and all other premises, whether used for business, boarding, or residential purposes. Sec. 9. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That for the purpose of enforcing this ordinance any person living on any premise shall be deemed an occupant, and any person receiving the rent, in whole or in part, of any premise, shall be deemed an agent; that on any premise where construction of any kind is in progress, and where employees or workmen eat their dinners, or lunches, In or about said premises, or scatter lunch or food in or about such premises, the contractor or foreman or other person in charge of such workmen shall be deemed an occupant; and that the person in charge of any market, or stall in any market, shall be deemed an occupant. Sec. 10. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That it shall be unlawful for any person to pick from or disturb the contents of any garbage containers or vessels, or other containers provided for in this ordinance. Sec. 11. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That each day's violation of any of the provisions of this ordinance shall constitute a separate and distinct offense. Sec. 12. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That any person violating any provision of this ordinance shall, on conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than ten ($10.00) dollars nor more than twenty-five ($25.00) dollars, or in default of the payment of said fine by imprisonment -------- for not less than ten (10) days nor more than thirty (30) days, or both, at the discretion of -------- having jurisdiction of the same. Sec. 13. _Be it further ordained, etc._, That any law or ordinance in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance, In whole or in part, be and the same is hereby repealed. ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WHEN THIS PUBLICATION WAS LAST PRINTED _Secretary of Agriculture_ Arthur M. Hyde. _Assistant Secretary_ R. W. Dunlap. _Director of Scientific Work_ A. F. Woods. _Director of Regulatory Work_ Walter G. Campbell. _Director of Extension Work_ C. W. Warburton. _Director of Personnel and Business W. W. Stockbebger. Administration_ _Director of Information_ M. S. Eisenhower. _Solicitor_ E. L. Marshall. _Weather Bureau_ Charles F. Marvin, _Chief_. _Bureau of Animal Industry_ John R. Mohler, _Chief_. _Bureau of Dairy Industry_ O. B. Reed, _Chief_. _Bureau of Plant Industry_ William A. Taylor, _Chief_. _Forest Service_ R. Y. Stuart, _Chief_. _Bureau of Chemistry and Soils_ H. G. Knight, _Chief_. _Bureau of Entomology_ C. L. Marlatt, _Chief_. _Bureau of Biological Survey_ Paul G. Redington, _Chief_. _Bureau of Public Roads_ Thomas H. MacDonald, _Chief_. _Bureau of Agricultural Economics_ Nils A. Olsen, _Chief_. _Bureau of Home Economics_ Louise Stanley, _Chief_. _Plant Quarantine and Control Lee A. Strong, _Chief_. Administration_ _Grain Futures Administration_ J. W. T. Duvel, _Chief_. _Food and Drug Administration_ Walter G. Campbell, _Director of Regulatory Work, in Charge_. _Office of Experiment Stations_ --------, _Chief_. _Office of Cooperative C. B. Smith, _Chief_. Extension Work_ _Library_ Claribel R. Barnett, _Librarian_. U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1930 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. Price 5 cents * * * * * Transcriber Notes Illustrations were repositioned so as to not split paragraphs. 
55684	----	[Illustration: Fighting the Fire] FIREBRANDS BY FRANK E. MARTIN AND GEORGE M. DAVIS, M.D. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS School Edition BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1912 _Copyright, 1911_, BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. _All rights reserved_ Printers S. J. PARKHILL & CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. PREFACE Every year fire destroys an enormous amount of property in the United States. Of this great loss by which our country is made just so much poorer, for property destroyed by fire is gone forever and cannot be replaced, a large proportion is due to carelessness, thoughtlessness, and ignorance. Nor is it a property loss only. Every fire endangers human life, and the number of lives lost in this way in one year is truly appalling. It has been estimated that if all the buildings burned in one year were placed close together on both sides of a street, they would make an avenue of desolation reaching from Chicago to New York City. At each thousand feet there would be a building from which a severely injured person had been rescued, and every three-quarters of a mile would stand the blackened ruins of a house in which some one had been burned to death. Children are allowed to burn dry leaves in the fall, and their clothing catches fire from the flames; women pour kerosene on the fire in their kitchen stoves, or cleanse clothing with gasoline near an open blaze; thoughtless men toss lighted cigars and cigarettes into a heap of rubbish, or drop them from an upper window into an awning; the head of a parlor match flies into muslin draperies; a Christmas-tree is set on fire with lighted candles, or a careless hunter starts a forest fire which burns for days and destroys valuable timber lands. There are hundreds of different ways in which fires are set. The majority of these fires, which cause great loss of life and property and untold suffering, are preventable by ordinary precaution. This little book has been written for the special purpose of teaching children how to avoid setting a fire, how to extinguish one, or how to hold one in check until the arrival of help. Each story tells how a fire was started, how it should have been avoided, and how it was put out: Mr. Brown Rat builds his nest with matches which were left around the house; Careless Joe pours hot ashes into a wooden box; or boys light a bonfire and leave the hot embers, and then old North Wind comes along and has a bonfire himself. At the end of each lesson there are instructions regarding the fire in question. There are also chapters on such subjects as our loss by forest fires, the work of our firemen, common safeguards against fire, how to act in case the house is on fire, and first aid to those who are injured by fire,--how to treat scalds and burns, how to revive persons who are suffocated by smoke, etc. A thoughtful reading of this book should make the present generation a more careful and less destructive people, and the entire country richer and more prosperous. CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE v BROWNIE'S MISFORTUNE 1 "CARELESS JOE" 9 MAY DAY 18 CAMPING OUT 30 THELMA'S BIRTHDAY 42 THE "E. V. I. S." 52 FOREST FIRES 61 PINCH AND TEDDY 67 THE BUSY BEES 77 THE COUNTY FAIR 86 "LITTLE FAULTS" 98 TEN YOUNG RATS 105 HOW NOT TO HAVE FIRES. I 116 THE KITCHEN FIRE 123 HOW NOT TO HAVE FIRES. II 133 THE SUNSHINE BAND 140 VACATION AT GRANDPA'S 148 THE FIRE DRILL 159 FIGHTING THE FIRE 169 VERNON'S BROTHER 176 THE WORLD'S GREAT FIRES 184 NEW YEAR'S EVE 189 CHRISTMAS CANDLES 200 WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF FIRE 211 FIRST AID 216 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fighting the Fire _Frontispiece_ The Flying Squadron _Page_ 44 The horses are led away to a place of safety " 88 The horses gallop madly down the street " 102 In the largest cities the firemen find their hardest work " 142 The water-tower pours a stream into the upper windows " 172 Fire Drill for the Firemen " 202 Fire raging through the deserted streets in San Francisco " 216 FIREBRANDS BROWNIE'S MISFORTUNE Polly's cage had just been hung out on the back porch, and she was taking a sun bath. She ruffled up her feathers and spread out her wings and tail. She knew she was pretty, and as the sun brightened her plumage, she arched her neck, and looked down at herself, saying over and over, "Pretty Polly! Polly! Pretty Polly!" Then she threw back her head and laughed one of those jolly, contagious chuckles that made everyone laugh with her. While she sat there, talking and laughing, a big brown rat came creeping up the steps. Polly had often seen him before, for he came to the house every day to find something to eat; and as he always stopped to have a chat, the two had become good friends. "Good morning, Polly," said Mr. Brown Rat. "You seem very happy this morning." "Why shouldn't I be happy?" replied Polly. "See how pretty I am. Besides, I have nothing to do all day but sit here and eat crackers and watch the people. By the way, Brownie, run into the house and get me a cracker now." "I can't get any more crackers, Polly," replied the rat. "The last time I went to the pantry the crackers were in a stone jar that had a heavy cover." Polly ruffled up her feathers, and spread out her wings so that they would shine in the sun. "You are very pretty, Polly," said Mr. Brown Rat, "but you haven't such a fine long tail as I have;" and he spread it out on the piazza and twisted his head to look at it. "Ha, ha! you wait until the cat gets hold of it and it won't be very long," replied Polly. "Why don't you shave off your whiskers, Brownie?" "I couldn't smell any cheese if I lost my whiskers," said Brownie. "And, besides, they make me look dignified with my family. "Polly, I am going to build a new house," he added. "I am tired of living in barns and stone walls, and I want my family together where it is warm and comfortable. Do you happen to know where I can find some matches?" "Why, yes," replied Polly, "my master is very careless with his matches. He leaves them around loose wherever he goes. You see, he doesn't use the matches that have to be struck on a box, and every time he lights his pipe he scratches the matches on anything that is handy. They are snapping and cracking all day long. Sometimes they break off and fly away, all on fire. You can find them almost anywhere in the house. But what do you want to do with matches, Brownie?" "Well, you see, Polly, the little sticks make a good framework for my house. The wood is good to chew and can be made soft for lining the nest; and the bits of flint in the head of the match are fine for sharpening and filing my teeth." "You and your family won't be able to file out of the house if you light one of those matches while you are filing your teeth," said Polly, and she gave another of her famous chuckles. "I'll look out for that," replied Mr. Brown Rat, as he scampered across the piazza. "Don't you dare to build a nest with matches in my house," Polly screamed after him; but Brownie slipped through a hole in the clapboards under the kitchen window and didn't make any promises. Polly didn't see her friend again for some time and she began to miss him. One day she heard her master say, "I wonder what becomes of all my matches?" and this set her to thinking. She sat still on her perch for a long time, scratching her head with first one foot and then another. "I believe Brownie is really building his nest in this house," she said to herself at last; "and he is using matches, too, after I told him not to." Then she became very angry. She screamed and bit the bars of her cage with her sharp bill until the cook came out and scolded her for being so cross. Two or three days later Polly was hanging on the back porch again, and the sun was shining on her feathers. She was spreading out her wings, and cocking her head on one side, when, all of a sudden, she saw a thin curl of blue smoke creeping out between the clapboards. "Hello! Help! Come in!" she screamed. "Hello! Help! Fire! Fire!" Some boys who were playing in the street came running up to the house at the cry of fire. "Get a move on!" cried Polly, dancing about in her cage and trying her best to open the door. "Where's the fire?" asked one of the boys. "Get busy!" screamed Polly, as she pulled herself up to the top of the cage. Just then a wagon came tearing down the street. "Whoa!" cried Polly, and, sure enough, the horses stopped in front of the house. The driver saw the smoke, and he went to work in a hurry, tearing off the clapboards, and showing the boys where to pour water in between the walls, until the fire was all out. When the man had gone away, and everything was quiet, Mr. Brown Rat came creeping out of the hole, wet and bedraggled, with his whiskers all burned off. Polly caught sight of him in a moment. "You rascal," she screamed, "you set that fire. You ought to know better than to build a house with matches." "I do now, and I'll never do it again, never again," replied Brownie meekly, as he went limping away. _Why did the brown rat come out on the back porch?_ _How did he build his nest?_ _Of what material was it constructed?_ _Why do rats like matches?_ _Why is it dangerous to leave matches scattered around the house?_ That rats and mice are responsible for many fires is no longer doubted. The evidence has been plainly seen. Rats and matches are a dangerous combination. For this reason matches should not be scattered around the house. In most of the European countries only safety matches can be used; this is one reason for the small number of fires in foreign lands as compared with those in the United States. "CARELESS JOE" "I didn't mean to lose my coat, Father. We boys were playing ball, and I threw it down on the ground and forgot all about it until I got home. Then I went back for it and it was gone. Some thief had stolen it, I suppose. I can't help it now, can I?" "No, Joe, of course you can't," his father answered; "but you are always doing something like this, and I want you to learn to be more careful. It is just the same with your work. Half of it is forgotten, and the other half is not well done. I can't trust you to do anything. You are so forgetful and careless that even your school-mates call you 'Careless Joe.' It is no wonder that your mother and I are discouraged." Mr. and Mrs. Patten were very fond of Joe, who was their only son, and they did everything they could for his happiness; but the boy had grown so careless and selfish that his father and mother were at their wits' end to know what to do with him. As for Joe, he was a pleasant-faced, good-hearted, jolly boy; but his parents knew that this one bad habit of carelessness would soon spoil him if it were not corrected. They had done everything they could to help him overcome his fault, but he only seemed to grow more careless every day. Finally Mr. Patten said to his wife, "Let's send Joe to visit Grandfather Knight. He knows how to manage boys pretty well." Of course Joe was delighted when he heard of the plan, for who ever saw a boy who didn't like to visit his grandfather? Mrs. Patten wrote to Grandma Knight about Joe's bad habit, which was giving them so much trouble; and the two old people talked it all over and felt sure that they would know what to do when the time came. "I'll keep the boy so busy that he won't have any time to forget," said his grandfather. "There is always plenty of work on a farm for a good boy." "He can help me, too," added Grandma. "I'll pay him with cookies;" and she hurried out to the kitchen to make a big jarful of the round sugar cookies that Joe liked best. Joe was delighted with everything on the farm, and for several days he did very well. "He isn't such a bad boy after all," Grandpa told Grandma when Joe had gone upstairs to bed one night. But the very next morning he gave Joe a bucket of grain to feed the hens, and in the afternoon he found the bucket in the barn, still full of grain. When he spoke to Joe about it, the boy answered carelessly, "Oh, yes, I did forget it; but it won't matter much, will it? Hens can't tell the time of day." "I suppose not," his grandfather replied; "but I don't believe they like to go hungry any better than you do." The next night Joe went to the pasture to get the cows, and came home driving nine, when he knew very well that his grandfather had ten. He never noticed the difference until Grandpa spoke to him about it, and then he seemed to care so little that the good old man began to think Joe one of the most careless boys he ever saw. Two or three days later Mr. Knight went to market, leaving Joe to feed the horses at noon. When he reached home at night, the horses had not been fed, and Joe said he didn't think they would mind going without one dinner. Grandma Knight heard this remark, and she decided that it was about time for Joe to have a lesson. When the boy came in to supper, feeling very hungry after a good game of ball, there sat his grandmother knitting a stocking. He glanced around the kitchen in surprise. "My stomach feels pretty empty," he said; "but I don't see anything to eat. Isn't it almost supper-time?" "Yes, my boy," his grandmother answered, with a twinkle in her eye, "it is supper-time; but I thought you wouldn't mind going without one supper, so I didn't get any to-night." Joe frowned and hung his head. He knew very well what his grandmother meant, and things went a little better for a day or two; but the boy soon fell back into his old tricks. Every morning Joe emptied the ashes from the kitchen stove for his grandmother. Grandpa Knight had told him over and over again never to empty them until they were cool, and always to put them in an iron barrel that stood in the shed. One morning Joe went as usual to empty the ashes, which happened to have a good many live coals in them. The iron barrel was full, but Joe was in a hurry to get away for a game of ball. He couldn't bother to empty the barrel, and he surely couldn't wait for the ashes to cool, so he tipped them into a wooden box, live coals and all, and ran off to his game. Grandma Knight was making another big batch of cookies, and it was not long before she began to smell smoke. She looked all around the stove, but she couldn't find anything that was burning. "It must be some paper I threw into the fire," she said to herself, and she went on with her baking. But the smell of smoke grew stronger and stronger, and when she came out of the pantry to slip the first pan of cookies into the oven, she could see a thin blue haze in the kitchen. "The house is on fire!" she cried, and she ran down cellar and upstairs as fast as she could go, opening all the doors and looking in all the closets to find out what was burning. On her way through the hall she caught up a fire-extinguisher; but she couldn't find a sign of the fire anywhere. At last she ran out through the shed to call Grandpa Knight from the barn, and there was the wooden box blazing merrily, and sending little tongues of hot flame across the floor. It took only a few minutes to put out the fire with the fire-extinguisher which she still held in her hand; but when Grandpa came into the house a few minutes later, there was Grandma Knight sitting beside the kitchen table, holding a pan of black cookies, with tears running down her wrinkled cheeks. "I never burned a cooky before in all my life," she said, trying to smile through the tears; "but I couldn't let the house burn down!" and then, all trembling with excitement, she told about the fire in the shed, and the box of hot ashes. When Careless Joe came home to dinner there was a pan of burned cookies beside his plate, and that afternoon he had a talk with his grandfather which he never forgot. From that day he really did try to overcome his careless, selfish ways, and to be more thoughtful and manly. He had learned that fire is not to be trifled with, and that a boy must always have his mind on his work. _Why was this boy called "Careless Joe"?_ _In what way was he careless?_ _What lesson did his grandmother teach him?_ _What happened which taught him a more serious lesson?_ _How should ashes be cared for?_ _What kind of a barrel should they be kept in?_ _What should be done with rubbish and waste paper?_ Ashes should never be kept in wooden barrels or boxes, but in iron barrels or brick bins. There should never be an ash-heap against a fence or near the side of a house. Paper and rubbish should not be mixed with ashes, but kept in a separate barrel. Cellars and basements should be clean, orderly, and well-lighted. Rubbish is a fire-breeder, and may be the means of destroying your home. MAY DAY It was May Day, and all the children who went to school in the little brick schoolhouse at the foot of the hill were going "Maying." Every sunny morning in April they had begged their teacher to go with them to the woods to gather flowers; but Miss Heath kept telling them to wait until the days were a little warmer, and the woods less damp. "By the first of May," she said, "there will be ever so many more flowers. If May Day is bright and sunny we will have no school,--except the school of the woods, no lessons but those the birds and flowers teach us. Wear your oldest clothes, and don't forget your lunches. You will be as hungry as squirrels when you have played out of doors all the morning." The first morning in May was warm and sunny enough to make everyone long to spend the whole day in the woods. At half-past eight all the pupils in Miss Heath's school were at the schoolhouse door, eager for the Maying. There were only sixteen of them, and they were of all ages, from five to fourteen, for the little brick schoolhouse was in the country, far away from the graded city schools. The mothers had not forgotten the lunches, and it was a happy band of boys and girls that set off at nine o'clock for the woods. They climbed the hill and followed a cart-path until they came to a shady hollow where a tiny brook rippled over its stony bed. "We'll stay here for a little while and watch the birds," said Miss Heath. "Sit down under this pine tree, and keep as still as mice until you have seen five different birds." Joe Thorpe saw the first one,--a robin that came down to the brook for a drink of water. Alice Fletcher caught sight of a black and white warbler that was hopping about in the pine tree, and Grace Atkins pointed out a woodpecker that was rapping on the trunk of an old oak. A golden oriole flew to the top of a tall elm and called down to them, "Look, look, look! Look up here! Look up here! Look up here!" But the fifth bird was hard to find. They had almost given him up when Miss Heath held up her hand. "Listen!" she whispered, and in a moment a song sparrow that had lighted in a little bush near by sang them his sweetest song,--sang it over and over, with his head held high and his tiny throat swelling with the music. "There are the five birds," said Miss Heath, when the song sparrow flew away; "now for our flowers!" and she jumped up and led the way across the brook and down a gentle slope toward an old pasture that was half overgrown with underbrush. "You must notice all the different shades of green in the new leaves on the trees, with the yellows and reds on the bushes," she said, as they stood looking across the pasture. "There are almost as many colors among the trees in the spring as there are in the fall, but they are not so brilliant. "Now, run and look for flowers," she added, when they had climbed over a stone wall and found a narrow foot-path across the pasture. "I will wait here, under this chestnut tree, and you can come back when you are ready; but if I call, you must come at once. It will be lunch-time almost before you know it." That old pasture was a splendid place to find spring flowers, and the children scattered in all directions, by twos and threes, peeping under bushes and poking away dead leaves to hunt for sprays of arbutus, or Mayflowers as they always called them. Grace and Alice found some beautiful clusters of the fragrant pink and white blossoms, but poor little Joe Thorpe didn't have good luck at all, so he wandered off by himself to look for hepaticas. He found them, too, among the rocks at the farther end of the field, blue ones and white ones, and some that were pink and lavender; and when he had picked a good handful for Miss Heath, he saw some "spring beauties," white blossoms striped with pink that swayed gently on their slender stems. Just then he heard the call to lunch, and although he hurried back to the big chestnut tree he found all the children there before him, their hands filled with flowers. There were bunches of blue violets and white violets, hepaticas and spring beauties. One girl had found yellow adder's tongues with their spotted leaves, and a boy brought a Jack-in-the-pulpit, standing up stiff and straight to preach its little sermon. After Miss Heath had admired all the flowers, and had sent three of the boys back to the brook for water, the children opened the baskets and spread their lunch on newspaper tablecloths. Then what a merry picnic they had! They exchanged cakes and cookies, gingerbread and doughnuts. They shared pickles and apples, and divided turnovers and saucer pies,--and they all picked out the very best of everything for Miss Heath, until she laughingly declared that she couldn't eat another single mouthful. After lunch they told stories and played games, until, all at once, the teacher noticed that the sun had hidden his face behind a heavy cloud. "I am afraid it is going to rain," she said; "we must hurry home." But even before the children could gather up their baskets and flowers, the big rain-drops began to patter down on their heads. "I don't care," said little Joe Thorpe. "It is nothing but an April shower." "April showers bring Mayflowers!" quoted Grace and Alice, and then they held their thumbs together and wished, because they had both said just the same thing at just the same moment. "They bring wet dresses, too," said Miss Heath, "and not one of us has an umbrella. Let's run over to that little pine grove and play the trees are umbrellas. That's what the birds do when it rains." The children ran down the narrow path and gathered under the spreading branches of the pines, and the trees held out their arms and tried to keep them dry. But the rain-drops came down faster and faster, and it was not long before the little girls' cotton dresses were wet through. As soon as the shower was over Miss Heath said, "Now you must run home as fast as you can, and put on dry clothing. I don't want anyone to catch cold when we have had such a happy day together." So away the children scampered, some in one direction, some in another. At the foot of the hill Alice stopped suddenly and said to Grace, "My mother will not be at home. She was going to the village this afternoon to do some marketing." "Come to my house," said Grace. "You can put on one of my dresses while yours is getting dry." When they reached Grace's house her mother was not at home, either; but Grace found the key to the back door behind the window blind, and the two little girls went into the kitchen. Then they took off their wet dresses and put on dry ones, and Grace climbed up in a chair to hang Alice's dress on the clothes-bars over the stove. "It will not dry very fast until we open the dampers and let the fire burn up," she said; so she opened both dampers wide, and then took Alice up to the play-room to see the new doll which her aunt had sent her for a birthday gift. The doll had a whole trunkful of dresses, coats, hats, and shoes, and the two little girls had such a good time trying them on that they forgot all about the kitchen stove. Suddenly Grace cried, "I can smell smoke, Alice. Something is burning!" "It must be my dress," exclaimed Alice, jumping up and running down the back stairs. She opened the kitchen door just in time to see the dress burst into flames. "Oh, what shall we do?" she cried. "My dress is on fire! Put it out! Put it out! Quick! Quick!" "I can't!" screamed Grace. "Oh, Mother! Mother! Come home! Come home!" Just then a man, who was driving by with a load of wood, saw the flames through the window and came running in to see what was the matter. He snatched the burning dress from the clothes-bars, threw it into the sink, and pumped water over it to put out the fire. Then he closed the dampers in the stove, which was now red hot, and opened the windows at the top to let out the smoke; while all the time the two little girls stood in the middle of the floor, sobbing and crying. "That was a very careless thing to do," said the man, when at last they told him how the dress happened to catch fire. "You should never hang anything over the stove. Tell your mother to take down those clothes-bars this very afternoon, and put them on the other side of the kitchen; and remember never to go out of the room again when you have started up the fire. A red-hot stove will sometimes set wood-work on fire, even if there isn't a cotton dress near by to help it along." "I don't believe I shall forget it very soon," said Grace, as she lifted the handful of wet black rags out of the sink. "Nor I," cried Alice. "I am glad Miss Heath told us to wear our old clothes." "And I am glad that I came along before you set the house on fire," said the man. "Don't ever try to dry wet clothes in a hurry again." Then he went out and climbed up on his load of wood, muttering to himself, "That's what comes of leaving children alone in the house. They are never satisfied unless they are lighting matches or starting a fire." _Why did Grace hang the dress over the stove?_ _How did it catch fire?_ _What material was the dress made of?_ _Would a woollen dress burn as easily?_ Damp clothing, or clothes that have just been ironed, should never be hung over a hot stove, for, as the moisture dries out, the clothes quickly ignite. Clothes-bars or a clothes-line should never be hung over a stove, and a clothes-horse should not be set too near it. Many fires have resulted from an overloaded clothes-horse falling on a hot stove, especially when there was no one in the kitchen to watch it. Children should never be permitted to open the dampers of a stove, or to have anything whatever to do with the kitchen fire. They should not set a kettle on the stove or take one off, and they should be cautioned against climbing into a chair near the stove, as they might fall and be badly burned. CAMPING OUT It was one of those hot drowsy days in July. School had been closed two weeks, and Dean and Gordon Rand were already wondering how they could ever spend the rest of the long vacation in their little home in the city of Boston. To be sure there were plenty of books filled with charming stories of brooks and pine woods; but reading only made the boys wish they might go to the real country instead of sitting at home in a hot stuffy house, reading about it in a story-book. One night the two brothers went as usual to meet their father when he came home from work. His tired face wore a happy smile, and they knew at once that something pleasant had happened. "What is it, Father? Do tell us!" the boys cried in one voice. Their faces were so eager that it was really hard for Mr. Rand to say, "Wait, my boys, until we reach home. Then your mother can share the good news with us." Mrs. Rand was looking out of the window as the boys danced up the front walk, each holding one of their father's hands. They pulled him along in their haste to hear the news, and she, too, guessed that something pleasant had happened. Father said that boys couldn't half enjoy good news with dirty hands and faces, so it was not until soap and water had made them clean and shining that he took from his pocket a letter from good jolly Uncle Joe who lived among the hills of Vermont. "Here is your news," he said. "I will read aloud the part of the letter that will interest you. Now, listen! Uncle Joe says: 'Why not let those boys of yours come up and go camping with me this summer? I am going to pitch my tent in the woods near Silver Lake, and I expect to have good fishing and hunting. Send the youngsters along as soon as they are ready. I will take care of them, and give them a rollicking good time.'" The boys were so delighted that they could hardly wait for Mother to get their clothes ready, and for Father to write to Uncle Joe and tell him when and where to meet them. At last the day arrived when they were to take the train for Vermont. Their trunk was carefully packed, and they were as clean and fresh as Mother's loving hands could make them. It was a long ride, but there was so much to see every minute that the time passed quickly. At noon they opened the box of lunch Mother had put up for them. When they saw the sandwiches and the little cakes and apple turnovers, there was a lump in their throats for a few minutes. The conductor came along just then, to tell them they were crossing the Connecticut, and in their eagerness to catch their first glimpse of the great river they forgot all about being homesick. Uncle Joe met them at the station. He gave them each a hearty hand-shake and a big hug. Then he lifted them up on the seat of a wagon, and put their trunk in behind, with ever so many other boxes and bundles. It was not far to the shore of the little lake. Uncle Joe soon had all the provisions stowed away in a large flat-bottomed boat, and it did not take long to row across to the tents on the opposite side. Do you suppose a supper ever tasted better to hungry boys than that one of fried trout just caught from the lake, with bread and butter, and fresh berries and cream? Uncle Joe served them generously, too,--just as if he knew all about a boy's appetite! After supper they were so tired with all the excitement of the day that they were content to sit quietly on the little sandy beach, watching the sunset and the changing colors in the clouds. There were lovely shadows on the purple hills, and dim reflections of the trees and sky in the smooth surface of the lake. How much better it was than all the noise and confusion of the city streets! It was not long before the boys were sleepy, and Uncle Joe went with them to see that everything was all right in their tent. When they saw the bed they were a little uncertain as to whether they would like it. It was nothing but a great heap of fir-balsam boughs, covered over with two heavy blankets, and it didn't look very comfortable; but when they had tried it a few moments the boys pronounced it the softest, sweetest bed they ever slept in. Morning found them rested and ready for camp life. Uncle Joe took them out fishing, and let them row the boat home. Then they put on their bathing suits and he gave them a swimming-lesson. After dinner they went for a long walk and he taught them to watch for birds and squirrels. They had never dreamed that the woods could be half so interesting, or hold so many different things. They enjoyed every minute of the day; and the next day, and the next, it was just the same. They never had to stop and ask, "What shall we do now?" There was always something to do, even before they had time to do it. They met several other boys, about their own age, who were living in a camp farther up the lake. These boys often joined them in their picnics and excursions, and the time was too short for all they found to do. But they did one thing that came very near spoiling the fun of that happy vacation in the woods. One night Uncle Joe stayed out fishing a little later than usual, leaving his nephews alone in the camp. The other boys came down to visit them, and one of them suggested that it would be great fun to build a camp-fire. Dean, who was always a cautious lad, feared it was not just the right thing to do, without his uncle's permission; but at last he gave in to the other boys. Broken boughs and bark were quickly piled up, a match was lighted to kindle the fire, and in a few minutes the flames were leaping over the dry wood. The boys were delighted with their bonfire, and they ran here and there among the trees collecting more fuel for the flames. Suddenly they began to realize that the fire was spreading. It had run along through the dry grass and pine needles, and the wind was blowing it straight toward the woods, where they had had so many good times, and where their friends the birds and squirrels had their homes. At first the boys thought they could put out the fire with pails of water; but they soon saw that it was beyond their control, and they stood still, too frightened to do anything but scream. Their cries brought Uncle Joe, and some fishermen from the other camps, to fight the fire, and for more than an hour the men worked valiantly. They chopped off great green branches and beat out the flames, they threw on buckets of sand from the beach, they chopped down trees and made a broad path in front of the fire, and finally they dug a trench to keep it from running along the grass. At last the fire was declared to be all out; but it was not until the men's hands were blistered, and their faces burned and blackened with the smoke. This was not the worst of it, however, for nearly an acre of valuable timber had been destroyed, and the dead trees held out their stiff leafless branches like ghosts of the beautiful pines and firs that had stood there in the sunshine that very day. The boys went back to their camps very soberly. How their hearts ached at the mischief they had done! They could think of nothing, talk of nothing, but the fire. Dean and Gordon sobbed themselves to sleep, feeling sure that Uncle Joe would send them both home in the morning. But the next day good, kind Uncle Joe, whom everyone loved, called the boys around him and gave them a long talk about forest fires. He told them he hoped this experience would teach them never to build a fire anywhere unless men were near to guard it carefully, and not even then if the grass were very dry, or there was the least breath of wind to carry the flames and sparks. He explained that thousands of dollars' worth of property might have been destroyed, and possibly lives might have been lost by their carelessness. He told them stories of the terrible forest fires that have raged for days in the timber lands of the Northwest. When at last he asked for their promises, the boys gave them readily, for they had learned how very dangerous a fire can be; and for the rest of that summer, at least, there wasn't another bonfire at Silver Lake. _Why did Dean hesitate to start a fire when his uncle was away?_ _If the boughs had been green or wet would they have burned as quickly?_ _Did you ever see a fire in the grass or woods, running along like a race-horse?_ _How do you think these fires are started?_ _Why are fires most dangerous in the summer and fall?_ Forest fires are started from bonfires, by hunters, campers, fishermen, or lumbermen, or by mischievous and careless persons. Fires should never be started unless the ground is cleared around them, and at a safe distance from any building or woods. They should never be left unguarded. Forest fires have become so serious that many states have appointed Fire Wardens, whose duty it is to patrol the forests. Watch towers have been erected, from which observations are taken, and in case of fire, alarm is spread by means of a telephone system. In some countries avenues, equal in width to the height of the tallest tree, are cut through the forests at intervals of half a mile. These avenues afford a fire-barrier and standing ground for the firemen to fight the flames. With the many acres of valuable timber destroyed by fire every year, and the indiscriminate cutting of trees by the lumbermen, our forests are fast disappearing. Children should be encouraged to observe Arbor Day, and to plant trees, so that the custom may become more general, and the forests be renewed. THELMA'S BIRTHDAY Thelma was a little Fourth-of-July girl,--at least that was what her father always called her, for her birthday came on the glorious Fourth, the day to which all the children in the United States look forward, just as they do to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thelma did not have any brothers or sisters, but she had ever so many friends and playmates; and besides, there was Rover,--the best playmate of all,--good, kind, loving Rover, who followed his little mistress like a shadow all day long. The Fourth of July was Rover's birthday, too; but he never looked forward to it with the least bit of pleasure. When the horns were tooting, the bells were ringing, and the fire-crackers were snapping, you would always find Rover under Thelma's bed, with his head on his paws, and his eyes shut tight. I believe he would have put cotton in his ears, too, if he had only known that it would help to keep out the dreadful noise. Of course no one had ever told Rover about the Fourth of July, and he didn't understand at all why bells were rung and cannon were fired, and why everyone was eager to celebrate the day. But Thelma knew all about it. She was eleven years old, and she had often read the story in her reading-books at school. When her father took her on his knee, and helped her a little now and then with questions, she told just how it happened. "You see," she said, "when the white men first came to this country they formed thirteen colonies; but they were ruled by the King of England, who often treated them unjustly. "They bore their troubles patiently for a long time, but finally they were forced to pay such heavy taxes that they rebelled. Then they decided to break away from English rule and be free and independent states. "Thomas Jefferson wrote a paper declaring their independence, and men from each of the thirteen colonies signed it. This paper was called the 'Declaration of Independence,' and it was read from the balcony of the State House in Philadelphia, before a great crowd of people, on July 4, 1776. "Bells were rung to spread the good news, and ever since that time the Fourth of July has been celebrated as the birthday of the United States of America." "And what shall we do this year to celebrate all these birthdays?" her father asked, when Thelma finished her story. "Let's give a party," replied the little girl, and she jumped up to make out the list of friends she wished to invite. [Illustration: The Flying Squadron] One morning about a week later Rover waked up very early. He slept at night in his kennel behind the barn, and he always kept one ear open so that he could hear the least little bit of noise. But it was not a little noise that waked him this time. "Bang, bang! Crack, crack! Toot, toot! Ding, dong!" he heard from every direction. "Oh dear!" thought Rover, "I wonder if this is the Fourth of July! It can't be a year since I heard that noise before." But he did not have to wonder long. A crowd of boys were coming down the street, blowing horns, drumming on tin pans and firing off torpedoes. They threw a fire-cracker into Rover's yard, and it exploded in front of his kennel. "That's it," he said to himself, as the smoke drifted away in a little cloud; "it is the Fourth of July, after all." The minute the cook opened the kitchen door he pattered up the back stairs to spend the day under Thelma's bed. His little mistress went two or three times to coax him to play with her; but he wouldn't even come out to eat his dinner, and when her friends began to arrive for the party she forgot all about him. It was a beautiful evening, and after supper the children played games on the lawn. It seemed to them that it would never be dark enough for the fireworks. "I wish the Fourth of July came in December," said one of the boys. "It is always dark by five o'clock when we want to go skating after school." At last it began to grow dark, and Mr. Ward lighted the Japanese lanterns around the broad piazza, and brought out two big boxes of fireworks. "You children may sit on the steps where you can't get into any mischief," he said. "I will set off the fireworks on the lawn, and then we will have a feast in the summer-house. I saw a man walking down that way with some ice-cream a little while ago." But even ice-cream was not so tempting as the fireworks, and for an hour the children sat on the steps, watching the pinwheels and Roman candles and red lights that Mr. Ward set off, with two of the older boys to help him. "O-o-o-oh!" they cried, every time a sky-rocket went whizzing up over the trees to burst into a hundred shining stars; and "A-a-a-ah!" they shouted, when tiny lights like fireflies went flitting across the lawn. The last thing of all was a fire-balloon, and Mr. Ward called the children down to the lawn to watch it fill with hot air from the burning candle in its base. It filled very slowly, and the children were so quiet that Rover came creeping down the stairs to see if the noise were all over for another year. At last the balloon rose slowly above the children's heads. "There it goes!" they cried. "Watch it, now! Watch it!" and they ran along with it as it sailed across the lawn. A puff of wind blew it lightly toward the house. Then another breeze caught it and carried it over the roof of the barn. "Look, look!" the children shouted. "It is going higher. Now it will sail away over the trees." But suddenly a gust of wind turned the balloon completely over. The tissue paper caught fire from the burning candle, and the blazing mass dropped down behind the barn. "It will set fire to the summer-house!" shouted Mr. Ward. "And melt the ice-cream," cried the children, as they followed him across the lawn. There had been very little rain for a month, and the roof of the summer-house was so dry that it caught fire almost instantly from the blazing paper. Mr. Ward and some of the boys brought pails of water and tried to put out the flames; but the little house and Rover's kennel were burned to the ground, in spite of all their efforts. When the fire was out and the children had gone home without their ice-cream, Mr. Ward said to his wife, "That is the very last time I shall ever send up a fire-balloon. Fireworks are dangerous enough, but a fire-balloon is worse. I believe the sale of them should be forbidden by law, if men haven't sense enough not to buy them." But Rover, who was sleeping comfortably on the rug outside Thelma's door, cocked up his ears at the mention of fire-balloons. "They don't make any noise," he said to himself, "and I like this bed much better than the straw in my kennel." _Why do we celebrate the Fourth of July?_ _What was the Declaration of Independence?_ _Who wrote it, and who signed it?_ _What fireworks do you like best?_ _What fireworks are dangerous?_ _What is a fire-balloon made of?_ _Why is it unsafe to send up a fire-balloon?_ _What is the law concerning the use of fireworks in your state?_ Every year the celebration of the Fourth of July costs thousands of dollars in the destruction of property by fire, to say nothing of the loss of life from the accidental or careless discharge of fireworks. One of the causes of fires on this day is the fire-balloons. They are easily swayed by currents of air, and the lighted candles set fire to the tissue paper of which the balloon is made. The blazing paper falls upon the roofs of buildings, frequently causing serious fires. Almost all fireworks are dangerous play-things, and should be handled with great caution. In many states there are laws regulating the sale and use of fireworks, and all over the country there is now a general movement toward a saner and safer Fourth. THE "E. V. I. S." It was a bright, beautiful afternoon in April. The air was soft and spring-like, and the sky as blue as only April skies can be. The grass was springing up fresh and green, and the robins and bluebirds were singing joyously. Elmwood was a pretty little village. Its streets were long and level, and there were so many elms among the shade trees that Elmwood seemed just the right name for it. The village school had just been dismissed, and the street was full of boys and girls who were hurrying home to their dinner; but over in one corner of the campus a group of boys were talking together earnestly. "I say, boys, we must do it!" exclaimed the tallest in the group. "Of course we must," echoed one of the younger boys. "It will be great fun!" and "Won't we make things look fine!" shouted two of the others. And so they talked on, in eager boyish voices, making plans for the Village Improvement Society which they wished to form. They had already talked the matter over with their teachers and parents, and everyone encouraged them to go ahead. "We will help and advise you all we can," they said; "and it is just the time of year when there is plenty to do about the town." That evening the boys held a meeting to elect officers and plan their work. Mr. Ashley, the principal of the school, was invited to come, and promptly at eight o'clock the Elmwood Village Improvement Society was formed. Leon Messenger was chosen president, Archie Hazen was made secretary, and Harold Merrill treasurer. Each and every one promised to do his part and to work with a will to improve the little village of Elmwood; and, with Mr. Ashley's advice, they planned their work for the summer. First of all, they decided, the streets must be cleaned. That alone would require a good deal of time. Then some one proposed raking the yards for three or four poor women. "They can't afford to hire it done. Couldn't we do it for them?" he asked. "Good work!" responded Mr. Ashley. "Then, boys, see if you can't get permission to tear down and remove some old fences. Their owners would probably make no objection to your doing it, and it would be a great improvement to the village." There were two triangles of land between cross streets. Here the boys planned to plant cannas and other bulbs, and to keep the grass neatly mowed around the beds. "We might set out some vines to clamber over the telephone poles," one boy suggested. "Some of us must go about and get the people to give money to buy waste-barrels," said Archie Hazen. "We must never allow paper, banana and orange peels, or anything of that kind on the streets." "Better still, we must never throw them there ourselves," added Harold Merrill. "Those of us who drive cows must look out that they do not feed beside the road," said Leon Messenger; "and we might get our fathers to trim up the trees." "We must be sure to see some of the town officers about having no more rubbish dumped over the river-bank," said another. "We'll have our campus look better than it ever did before," declared one of the little boys; while another added, "We'll have Elmwood the cleanest, prettiest village in all New England." The boys not only planned,--they worked, and worked with a will. The very next day was Saturday, and every member of the new E. V. I. S. was on hand to do his best. Never had the streets of Elmwood looked so clean as they did in one week's time. Many a poor woman's yard was carefully raked, and several old fences were removed. Money for the waste-barrels had been given cheerfully, and all the boys were so eager to keep the streets clean that they would not have thrown a paper bag or a banana-skin in the road any more than they would have thrown it on their mother's carpet. The raking of so many streets and yards, and the tearing down of fences, made a good deal of rubbish. The boys carted it a little way outside of the village, and left it there to dry, so that they could have a bonfire. One warm night in May, Leon Messenger called the club together after school. "We can have our bonfire to-night," he said. "There has been no rain for a week and it ought to burn splendidly. Let's all be on hand by eight o'clock." Shouts of "Sure!" and "Hurrah!" were the answer; and the boys were all on hand in good season that evening. The fence rails made a fine foundation, and the boys built them up in log-cabin style. Then they threw on old boxes, barrels, and rubbish until they had an enormous pile. "Now let's finish off with some dry fir boughs," suggested Harold. "They will send the sparks up like rockets." When everything was ready, kerosene was poured over the brush, and a lighted match soon set the fire blazing merrily. Then how the boys did shout! They danced around the fire, whooping and singing, and pretending they were Indians having a war-dance. When at last the fire died down, they found some long sticks and poked the embers to make the sparks fly again, and then they sat down around the glowing ashes and watched the little flames flicker out. Finally they all decided that there could be no danger in leaving their bonfire. "Well," said Archie Hazen, "there seems to be some fun for the E. V. I. S. after all. Let's give three rousing cheers and then go home to bed." The three cheers were given with a will. Then the boys bade each other good-night and set off for home. When everything was quiet and the whole village was asleep, North Wind took his turn at building a fire. He puffed out his cheeks and blew on the red embers until tiny flames came darting out to lick the dry leaves. He sent merry little breezes to toss the hot sparks into the grass, and when it blazed up, here and there, he blew with all his might and swept the fire across the field. Just beyond the fence stood an old, tumble-down barn, and it was not long before the fire was raging and roaring its way to the very roof. The blaze lighted the sky and wakened the village folk from their sleep. Men and boys tumbled out of bed and hurried through the streets with buckets of water. The firemen came out with their hose and ladders; but it was too late,--the old barn was gone. Fortunately there were no other buildings near by, so little damage was done; but it taught the boys a good lesson. They had a meeting the very next morning, and agreed never to leave a fire again until the last spark was burned out, and never to build another bonfire without first raking the leaves and dry grass carefully away before lighting the fire. "But it did improve the looks of the village to burn down that old barn," Leon told Archie, when they were walking home from school together. "We really ought to add old North Wind to our list of members of the E. V. I. S." _What was the object of this society?_ _What was the result of their work?_ _What was done with the rubbish?_ _How did the fire get started?_ _What lesson did it teach?_ The burning of dry grass, leaves, and rubbish in bonfires, in the spring or fall, is a common practice. Extreme care should be used that it is done at a safe distance from buildings and woods, and it should be constantly watched, as a breeze may fan the flames and cause the spread of the fire. FOREST FIRES The loss by forest fires in the United States for the month of October, 1910, was about $14,600,000. Thousands of acres of valuable timber were destroyed, leaving in the place of beautiful green forests nothing but a dreary waste of black stumps and fallen trunks. This was an unusually heavy loss for a single month; but in the spring and fall of every year, especially in times of drought, fires sometimes rage for days through our splendid forests. These fires are more frequent and disastrous in Minnesota, Michigan, New York, and eastern Maine; but, in 1910, twenty-eight different states suffered heavy loss among their timber lands. The causes of these fires are chiefly sparks from engines or sawmills, campfires, burning brush, careless smokers, and lightning. More than two-thirds of the fires are due to thoughtlessness and ignorance, and could be prevented. Even in the case of a fire set by lightning, which seems purely accidental, the fire would not occur if fallen trees and dead underbrush were cleared away, for lightning never ignites green wood. In one year there were three hundred fires among the Adirondack Mountains of New York, one hundred and twenty-one of which were due to sparks from the engines of passing trains. Eighty-eight were traced to piles of leaves left burning, twenty-nine to camp fires, and six to cigar-stubs and burning tobacco from pipes. Every fire, when it first starts, is nothing but a little blaze which might easily be extinguished; but as it grows and spreads it quickly gets beyond control, unless there is a force of well-trained men to fight it. There are three kinds of forest fires,--"top fires," "ground fires," and the fires which burn the whole trees and leave nothing standing but stumps and blackened trunks. The "top fire" is a fire in the tops of the trees. It is usually caused by a spark from an engine dropping on a dry twig or cone among the upper branches. A light breeze will then blow the fire from one tree to another high up in the air, and after it has swept through the forest and killed the tops, the trees will die. This is the hardest kind of a fire to fight, as it is impossible to reach it. The only thing to do is to cut a lane in the forest too wide for the flames to leap across; but there is not always time for this, as the fire travels rapidly. The ground fire is not so difficult to cut off, as it spreads through the moss and the decaying vegetable matter among the roots of the trees. A broad furrow of fresh earth, turned up with a plow, or dug up with a spade, will stop the progress of the fire; but this kind of fire is especially treacherous, as it will live for days, or even weeks, smouldering in a slow-burning log or in a bed of closely-packed pine needles, and then burst out with renewed vigor. As all large fires create air currents, masses of light gas, like large bubbles or balloons, are blown about in the air, ready to burst into flame from even a tiny spark. In this way new and mysterious fires are set, often at some distance from the original fire. An ordinary forest fire travels slowly unless it is fanned by strong winds or driven by a hurricane. It will burn up-hill much faster than it burns down-hill, as the flames, and the drafts they create, sweep upward. The noise from one of these great fires is terrifying. The flames roar with a voice like thunder, and the fallen trees crash to the ground, bringing down other trees with them. Birds and wild animals flee before the fire, hurrying away to a place of safety. They seem to know by instinct which way to go, and deer, bears, coyotes, mountain sheep, and mountain lions will follow along the same trail without fear of each other in their common danger. Some of our national forests, and some of the tracts of timber land owned by big lumber companies, are guarded by forest rangers and fire patrols, and many fires are put out before they do serious damage, by the quick thought and skilled work of these men and their helpers. It has been estimated that forest fires in the United States destroy property to the value of $50,000,000 every year. In this way the timber in the country is being rapidly exhausted; and unless something is done to put a stop to this waste and to replenish the supply by planting new forests, there will be little timber left in another fifty years. It is impossible to realize the extent to which our forests have been destroyed unless one travels through these great barren wastes. To ride in a railway train for hundreds of miles through northern Michigan and Minnesota, seeing nothing but stumps, like tombstones of what were once magnificent trees, and short dead trunks, like sentinels on a battle-field, is a sad and depressing sight. PINCH AND TEDDY Pinch was a tiny terrier pup when we first brought him home to live with us. He was a plump, round, little fellow, with long, silvery-gray hair. His ears were so soft and silky that every one admired them, and his eyes were as bright as buttons, when we could get a glimpse of them. But the hair hung over them so long that we did not see them very often. As he grew older we had him clipped every summer. Then he was much more comfortable; and he looked prettier, too, for his coat was as smooth and shining as a piece of satin. The hair over his eyes was never cut; if it were, he could not see so well. This hair was needed to protect his eyes from the strong sunlight. Pinch was a very aristocratic little dog. He did not like to play with any one whose manners were not good. Sometimes a street dog would come up to him, with a friendly air, and say, "Good morning, wouldn't you like to play with me for a while?" But Pinch always tossed his nose in the air and walked away very proudly, saying, "No, I thank you, not to-day." This often made the poor street dog feel a little hurt; but he would wag his tail and run away to his old playmates. "Don't ever try to have anything to do with aristocratic Pinch," he would tell them, in dog language. "He feels too fine for us. I shall never give him a chance to snub me again." Pinch liked the softest cushions to lie on, and the daintiest things to eat. He was very fond of his mistress and liked to have her feed him; but he never liked to eat from a dish. He preferred to have her break his food in tiny pieces and feed it to him from her hand. He had a little bed of his own on the floor, but he liked the soft down puff on the guest-room bed much better, and he often stole away to take a nap there. Pinch had one very bad habit. He always barked when any one rang the door-bell, and no one but his master could stop him. His mistress often tried to quiet him; but Pinch would look up at her with merry eyes which seemed to say, "I'm not a bit afraid of you. I know you love me too well to punish me." And he kept right on barking. He liked to go for a walk with any member of the family, and if he were left at home alone, he would sit down beside the door and cry as if his little doggish heart would break. If his master's automobile stopped in front of the house, he would run out and jump up in the front seat, wagging his little stump of a tail. "I don't mean to be left at home this time," he seemed to be saying; but he would look anxiously at his mistress until she said, "Yes, Pinch, you may go." Then he would fairly dance up and down in his excitement. One afternoon Pinch came into the house, sniffing about as usual. Suddenly, to his surprise, he came upon a half-grown kitten curled up comfortably under the kitchen stove. The kitten was fat and black, and he had a pretty pink nose and a long tail with a tiny white tip. Yes, and he had roguish-looking eyes, too. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" asked Pinch, bristling up angrily. "My name is Teddy, and I have come to live in this house," the kitten answered politely. Pinch looked Teddy over scornfully and was not very cordial. He walked away muttering to himself, "I do hope that saucy black kitten doesn't expect me to chum with him. I don't see why my mistress wants a kitten anyway. I am pet enough for one family." Pinch was really jealous of the poor little kitten; but Teddy was so bright and good-natured that he couldn't help playing with him sometimes, especially if no one was there to see him; but he couldn't bear to see his mistress pet the cat. "Here I am," he would say; "don't talk to that cat. Talk to me." Then he would chase Teddy all over the house, until at last Teddy would turn and box his ears, and that was the end of the game for that day. Teddy had a funny little trick of jumping up on the sideboard. Perhaps he liked to look at himself in the mirror. Once, when he was playing with Pinch, he jumped up in such a hurry that he knocked off a glass dish and broke it all to pieces. He was so frightened at the noise that he did not get up there again for a long time; but he did sit on the chairs and tables, and even on the beds and bureaus. In fact, he made himself at home almost anywhere. He was very playful, too, so his mistress gave him a soft ball and a little woolly chicken. He kept them under the book-case in the library, and whenever he wanted a game of ball he pulled them out and played with them for a while. Sometimes he played with his own tail, chasing it round and round, and twisting himself up double in his excitement. He played with the curtain tassels, too, and with the corner of the tablecloth; but his mistress always scolded him if she caught him at it. One evening, just before supper, the whole family was up stairs, and Pinch and Teddy were having a very lively frolic in the dining-room. Suddenly there was a great crash, and the cat and dog went flying through the hall to hide under the sofa in the parlor. The cook came running in from the kitchen, and down stairs rushed the whole family to see what was the matter. There was matter enough, you may be sure, for Teddy had jumped at the table, missed his footing, and pulled off the cloth with all the dishes and a lighted lamp. The lamp broke as it fell to the floor, and the burning oil was already spreading over the carpet. "Fire! Fire!" cried the excited children. "Water! Water!" screamed the cook, and she ran back to the kitchen to catch up a pail. "Don't pour water on that blazing oil," shouted the master of the house. "Bring some flour. Quick!" The children ran to the pantry, and the cook dipped up big panfuls of flour, which they carried to the dining-room and threw over the fire. The room was filled with a thick, black smoke, and every one coughed and choked; their eyes began to smart, and tears ran down their cheeks; but they worked bravely, and after a few minutes the last tiny flame was extinguished. "What a queer way to put out a fire!" said one of the boys, after the excitement was all over. "I thought everyone always used water." "Not when the fire is caused by burning oil," replied his father. "Water will only spread the oil, and make a bad matter worse. Always remember to use flour or sand to smother the flames, if a lamp explodes or is tipped over." "There is something else we should remember," added his wife; "and that is, never to leave a lighted lamp on the table when there is no one in the room." Pinch and Teddy had something to remember, too. The noise of the falling china and the sight of the blazing oil had sent them scurrying under the couch in the parlor; and although they had many another good frolic, Teddy never jumped up on the table again. _Who was Pinch? Who was Teddy?_ _Where did Teddy like to sleep?_ _How did he pull the cloth off the table?_ _What harm did it do?_ _Why should a cat never be allowed to jump on a table?_ _What other animals do you know of that have set fires by accident?_ Great care should be taken to prevent children and pet animals from setting fires. Many a cat or dog has tipped over a lamp and set the house on fire. It is safer to place the lamp on a shelf or bracket. Never set it on a table which is covered with a cloth that hangs over the edge, as the cloth might accidentally be pulled off, bringing the lamp with it. Hanging lamps should be used with caution, as the heat may melt the solder in the chain, thus weakening the links and allowing the lighted lamp to fall upon the table or floor. A lantern should always be hung up, especially in the barn or stable. It should never be set on the floor where it could easily be tipped over, or where it might be kicked over by a cow or horse. THE BUSY BEES Everyone in the neighborhood called the Belchers the "Busy Bees;" in fact, they had been called by this name so long that they had almost forgotten their real name. When the children went out on the street together, the neighbors would say, "There go the Busy Bees;" and if any one wanted a book from the library, or a spool of thread from the corner store, some one was sure to suggest, "Ask one of the Busy Bees to get it for you." Father Busy Bee had died several years ago. That meant that Mother Busy Bee and the young Bees must work all the harder to keep their home together. Beatrice, the oldest daughter, was seventeen years old, and almost ready to graduate from the High School. Bradley was a messenger boy at the telegraph office, Burton worked in a green-house on Saturdays and holidays; and Little Barbara, who was only eight years old, earned a good many pennies by running on errands for the next-door neighbors. Mother Busy Bee was a good nurse, and whenever she could possibly spare time from her children, she left Beatrice to keep the house while she went to take care of any one who was sick and needed her. It would be hard to find a busier family anywhere, and as every one of their names began with "B," it was hardly surprising that people called them the "Busy Bees." Perhaps they were all the happier for being so busy, for they had no time for quarreling or getting into mischief; and when they did have a few minutes for play, they thought they were the luckiest children in town, and had the very best time you can imagine. Of course Mother Busy Bee was always sorry to leave her children at home alone; but Beatrice was getting old enough now to be a pretty good housekeeper, and Bradley was a manly little fellow who liked to take care of his brother and sisters. One night there was an accident at one of the mills in the town, and several people were injured. Mother Busy Bee was sent for in a hurry, and she put on her hat and coat and got ready to go at once, talking all the time as she flew around the house. "I may be back in an hour, and I may be gone a week," she said. "Take good care of each other, and be very careful about fire. Don't play with the matches, always set the lamp in the middle of the big table, and never go out of the house without looking to see that the drafts of the stove are all shut tight." She had said this so many times before that Bradley couldn't help laughing. "Oh, mother!" he exclaimed; "you are always looking for trouble. We are too old to play with matches, and we never have set anything on fire yet." Just then his mother caught sight of a pile of schoolbooks on the table, and another worry slipped into her mind. "There!" she said, "it is examination week for you and Bee, and I ought not to leave you at all. You need to study every minute." "Now, Mother," said Beatrice, throwing her arm around Mrs. Busy Bee and running with her to the door, "there are ever so many people in this town who need you more than we do to-night. Run along, dear, and don't worry. We'll get along splendidly. I can get up earlier in the morning and have plenty of time to study after the dishes are done. Barbara will help me, too. She is a big girl now, you know;" and she drew her little sister up beside her to give Mother a good-bye kiss. So Mrs. Busy Bee hurried down the stairs to the street door, calling back all sorts of instructions, and promising to be home in a day or two at the very most. But the accident was more serious than she expected, and at the end of a week she was still unable to leave her patient's bedside. In the meantime Beatrice and Bradley had found plenty of time for study, and had taken all their school examinations. It was a circle of merry faces that gathered around the supper table each night, even if Mother were still away and the house so full of work. Everything went well until one evening Beatrice discovered that the doughnut jar was empty. She knew how much the boys liked doughnuts for their breakfast, and as she had often seen her mother make them, she felt sure she knew just how it was done. She set the kettle of fat on the stove, put the lamp on a shelf out of the way, rolled up her sleeves and went to work. But it was not so easy as it had seemed, and before the doughnuts were rolled out and cut into round rings, ready to fry, Beatrice was beginning to wish she hadn't attempted it. "I never thought cooking could be such hard work," she said with a sigh, as she dropped the first ring into the fat, and waited for it to rise and turn a lovely golden brown. But it didn't rise very quickly, and when it did float leisurely to the surface, it was still white and sticky. "The fat isn't hot enough, I guess," she said to herself, and taking up the kettle by the handle, she lifted the stove-cover to set the kettle over the coals. But the kettle was not well balanced on its handle, and it tipped a little. Some of the fat spilled over on the hot stove and took fire. The flames spread quickly, and Beatrice's gingham apron blazed up almost instantly. The poor girl screamed with fright, tearing at her apron to get it off, and rushing to the sitting-room for help. Bradley looked up and saw her coming. "Stand still! Stand still!" he shouted, and catching a heavy afghan from the couch he threw it over her shoulders, to protect her face from the flames. Then he snatched a rug from the floor and wrapped it tightly around her to smother the fire, which was beginning to burn her woollen dress. Poor Beatrice was badly burned and terribly frightened. She sobbed and cried, partly with fear, partly with pain, for her hands were blistered, and there were spatters of hot fat on her bare arms; but, fortunately, the fat on the stove had burned itself out without setting fire to the kitchen, and that was something to be very thankful for, at least. Bradley made his sister as comfortable as he knew how, while Burton ran to ask one of the neighbors what to do for her burns; but when their mother came home the next morning, she found a very sober group of children to greet her. And from that day to this not one of the Busy Bees ever wanted another doughnut for breakfast. _Why were the Belchers called "Busy Bees"?_ _Why did Beatrice try to fry some doughnuts?_ _How did she set her apron on fire?_ _Why did Bradley tell her to stand still?_ _How did he smother the flames?_ _What lessons do you learn from this story?_ Frying doughnuts, or any other food, in hot fat is always dangerous, as there are many ways of setting the fat on fire. Only an experienced person should attempt it. The kettle should never be more than two-thirds full of fat. The fat should not be allowed to boil up, nor to bubble over. Never put water into fat, nor drop in anything that has been in water without first wiping or drying it. Water will always make hot fat spatter. Great care should be used in moving the kettle on the stove. Never raise it or move it without using two hands, and two holders, one to lift the handle, the other to steady the side of the kettle. Do not use water to put out an oil fire, as it causes the fire to spread over a greater surface. Smother the flames with a heavy rug or coat. If a woman's clothing catches fire, she should not run through the house, as running only fans the flames and makes them burn all the faster. She should wrap herself in a rug or heavy mat, or roll on the floor. THE COUNTY FAIR "Oh, Father, please let me go to the fair! You promised me I could a week ago. All the boys are going, and I just can't give it up. Please let me go!" and Harry was almost in tears over his disappointment. "I know all about it, Harry," his father answered. "I realize how much you have looked forward to the fair, and I should like to have you go. There is a great deal for a boy to learn at a fair, if he will only keep his eyes open, but you see just how it is. I am in bed with a sprained ankle, and your mother cannot leave the baby. So what are we to do? A boy of ten is too young to go to such a place without some one to look after him." "Yes, Father; but Roy Bradish is going with two other boys who are twelve or fourteen years old, and they asked me to go with them. They could take care of me as well as not. I'd be good, Father. Please, please let me go!" Harry begged so hard that at last his father yielded, and gave the boy permission to go with his friends. "I would rather have you go with an older person," he said; "but there seems to be no one who can take you. Be very careful not to get into mischief. Don't shout, or run about, or do anything to attract attention. A quiet boy who takes care of himself is the boy I like to see." So, on the day of the fair, a warm sunny day in late September, Harry started off with his three friends. He had a dollar in his pocket for spending-money, and a box under his arm, which was well filled with sandwiches and doughnuts. As he bade good-bye to his father and mother, he promised over and over to be good, and to come home before dark. It was a long walk to the grounds where the fair was held every year, but the boys trudged along, talking and laughing, and having a good time. At the entrance-gate Harry spent half of his dollar for a ticket, and it was not long before the other half was gone, for there were many things to tempt money from a boy's pocket. He bought peanuts and pop-corn and a cane for himself, an apple-corer for his mother, and a whet-stone for his father. The other boys spent their money, too; and then they wandered around in the grounds, going into first one building and then another. There were exhibitions of vegetables and fruit in one building,--great piles of squashes and pumpkins; boxes of onions, turnips, beets, carrots, and parsnips; ears of yellow corn with their husks braided together, and corn-stalks ten or twelve feet tall ranged against the wall. [Illustration: From Stereograph, Copyright, 1905, by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. The horses are led away to a place of safety] The fruit was displayed on long tables in the center of the room,--rosy-cheeked apples, luscious golden pears, velvety peaches, and great clusters of purple grapes. It was enough to make one's mouth water just to look at them. But the animal-sheds were even more interesting. There were handsome horses,--black, bay, and chestnut. Their coats shone like satin; and when their keepers led them out they arched their necks and pranced about, as if they were trying to say, "Did you ever see a more beautiful creature than I am? Just wait a while, and I will race for you. See all these blue ribbons! I won them by my beauty and my speed." Then there were the cattle, long rows of them, standing patiently in their narrow stalls; the pigs, little ones and big ones, white ones and black ones; and the sheep with their long coats of warm, soft wool. After the boys had eaten their lunch they watched the horse-show for a little while, and then there was a free circus which they wanted to see, so it was the middle of the afternoon before they found their way to the poultry show. Such a noise you never heard in all your life as the one that greeted their ears the moment they stepped inside the door. If you want to hear some queer music, just listen to a poultry band at a county fair,--roosters crowing, hens cackling, ducks quacking, pigeons cooing, and turkeys gobbling. Harry liked the poultry-show best of all. He had some hens at home which he had raised himself, and he stood for a long time watching a mother hen and her tiny bantam chickens. "I wish I hadn't spent all my money," he said to himself. "I'd like to buy two or three of those chickens." "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" said a loud voice in a cage behind him. Harry turned quickly, and there stood a handsome white rooster, flapping his wings and crowing lustily. "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" he said again, and he walked back and forth in the narrow cage, strutting proudly, and spreading his wings as if to say, "What do you think of me?" "Cock-a-doodle-doo! I'd like to buy you, too," said Harry. "He is a beauty, isn't he, Roy?" he added, turning to speak to his friend. But the boys were gone. He walked the whole length of the building, and they were nowhere to be seen. "Perhaps they have gone back to the sheep-pens," he said to himself, and he ran across the grounds to look for them. The judges were awarding prizes for the finest sheep, and the long low building was crowded with people, but there was no sign of Harry's friends. "Where can they be?" he said, half aloud. "They may have gone over to see the cows milked by machinery. I'll go there next." Just as he went out of the farther door of the sheep-shed he met two men coming in. One of the men was smoking, and as he entered the shed he threw away the short end of his cigar. It fell in the dry grass near a pile of straw. In a minute West Wind came scurrying across the field, and it was not long before he found the lighted cigar. "What are you doing down there in the grass?" said West Wind. "Why don't you burn and have a good smoke by yourself?" The red tip of the cigar shone brighter at the words. "So I will," it said, and it sent up a thin curl of blue smoke. "Pouf! pouf!" said West Wind. "Can't you do better than that?" "Of course I can," and the stub burned still brighter. "Now I'll show you a good smoke," said West Wind, and he blew some dry grass over the cigar. The grass blazed up and set fire to the straw, and then there was some smoke,--you may be sure! West Wind danced over the grass with glee. He whirled round and round, tossing fresh straw to the flames, and blowing up the smoke in soft clouds. In a little while Harry came back, still hunting for his friends. A puff of smoke caught his eye and he ran to see what was burning. By this time the straw had set fire to the end of the sheep-shed, and the flames were eating their way toward the low roof. "Fire!" shouted Harry; but the crowd had gone over to see the milking and there was no one in sight. "Some one will come in a minute," he thought, and he snatched off his coat and beat back the flames as they ran up the dry boards. "Fire!" he shouted again, at the top of his voice. This time a man who was feeding the lambs heard him and came out with a pail of water; and then it did not take long to put out the fire. Just as Harry was stamping out the last flickering flames in the burning straw, a policeman came running out. "Here, what are you doing?" he cried. "Putting out this fire," replied the little boy. "I suppose you started it, too," said the policeman. "I never saw a boy yet who could keep out of mischief." Just then the two men came to the door of the sheep-shed. "What is the matter?" they asked. "This boy says he was putting out a fire, and I think he must have set it," the policeman told them. "No, sir," said Harry, "I didn't set the straw on fire. It was burning when I came up, and I tried to put it out." "I was smoking a cigar when I went into the shed," spoke up one of the men, "and I threw it away. It must have set fire to the straw. It was a very careless thing to do, and if it hadn't been for this boy we might have had a terrible fire." Just then Harry thought of his coat. It was his very best one, and his mother had told him to be careful of it. He held it up and looked at it. One sleeve was scorched, there were two or three holes in the back, and the whole coat was covered with straw and dirt. By this time a crowd had begun to gather, just as a crowd always gathers around a policeman, and the story had to be told all over again. "He saved my sheep!" said one of the men. "And mine, too," added another. "Let's help him to get a new coat;" and he took off his hat and began to pass it around in the crowd. Just then a newspaper reporter came up with his camera, and, of course, he wanted to take Harry's picture. When the newspaper was published next day, there was the picture, and the whole story of the ten-year-old boy whose quick thought and quick work had saved the sheep-shed and all the valuable sheep from fire. _What is exhibited at a County Fair?_ _Why is the fair held in the fall?_ _What did the boys see at the fair?_ _What set the grass on fire?_ _How did Harry put out the fire?_ _Why is it careless to throw away a lighted cigar?_ Lighted cigars thrown carelessly into dry grass or rubbish have caused many fires. Burning tobacco shaken from a pipe is even more dangerous, and a lighted cigarette is still worse, as some brands of cigarettes will burn two or three minutes after they are thrown away. When they are thrown from upper windows, they frequently lodge upon awnings, setting them on fire. Cigarette and cigar stubs in the streets sometimes set fire to women's skirts. Occasionally a man burns his own clothing by putting a lighted pipe in his pocket, or he sets the bed-clothing on fire by smoking in bed. "LITTLE FAULTS" Jamie and his mother were talking together very earnestly. The boy's face looked cross and impatient, while his mother's was sad and serious. Mrs. Burnham had sent Jamie to the store to buy a yard of muslin and a spool of thread. When he gave her back the change, she counted it, and saw at once that there were three pennies missing. If this had been the first time that Jamie had brought his mother too little change, she would have thought a mistake had been made at the store, or that he had lost the money. She would have been glad to believe it now. But after she had questioned him, she felt sure, by looking into his eyes--eyes that did not look back into hers--that the boy whom she loved, and wished to trust, had used the pennies to buy something for himself, and was trying to deceive her. "Oh, Jamie!" she said, "you don't know how it troubles me to think you would do such a thing;" and her eyes filled with tears as she looked into her son's face. Jamie really was a little ashamed, but he didn't like to say so. "Oh, Mother, you make such a fuss over nothing!" he answered, turning to look out of the window. "It was only two or three pennies! I don't see why you should feel so badly over such a little thing. What if I did spend them for something else?" "I know it is a little thing," his mother told him. "It isn't the pennies I care about. I would have given them to you gladly if you had asked for them; but I cannot bear to have you take them and not tell the truth about it. "It is only a little fault, I know; but little faults grow into big ones, just as little boys grow into big men. You must look out for your little faults now, Jamie, or you will have big ones when you are a man. A boy ten years old should know the difference between right and wrong." Jamie did not seem as sorry as his mother wished he were. "You needn't worry about me," he said, "I'm not going to get into any trouble;" and he put on his cap and went out to join his playmates. A few days later Mrs. Burnham saw him on the street with a crowd of boys who were snow-balling the passers-by. When he came home that night, she said, "I wish you would not play with those boys. They are rough and rude, and I don't like them. They are not the kind of friends I want you to choose." This time Jamie was decidedly cross. "Why do you find fault with every little thing?" he asked. "Can't you trust me to take care of myself?" "I am trying to teach you how to do it," his mother replied; "and I want you to help me." But this lesson seemed to be a hard one for the boy to learn. It was not many days before his teacher saw him copying an example from the paper of a boy who sat in front of him in school. "What are you doing, James Burnham?" Miss Jackson asked quickly. "I want you to do those examples yourself, not copy them from some one else. Bring your paper here at once. I am sorry I cannot trust you." Jamie put the paper on the teacher's desk, and as he did so he said, "I know how to do the examples. I don't see why you should care about such a little thing as that." "Perhaps it may seem only a little thing to you," replied Miss Jackson; "but unless you are an honest boy you will never be an honest man. Try to do just what is right every day, or you will get into serious trouble before you know it." Five or six years later Miss Jackson was visiting an Industrial School for boys, when suddenly she caught sight of a familiar face. "Who is that?" she asked the superintendent who was conducting her over the buildings, and she pointed to a boy who was working at a carpenter's bench. "His name is James Burnham," replied the superintendent. "He has been here two or three years, but we are going to send him home next month. He is a pretty good boy now." "He used to go to school to me," said Miss Jackson. "I think he meant well, but he was careless about little things, and didn't always choose the right friends." [Illustration: The horses gallop madly down the street] "That was just the trouble," Mr. Bruce told her. "He got into the company of some bad boys, and they led him into all kinds of mischief. At last they began setting fires to some of the old barns in the town; but one night there was a high wind that blew the sparks to a house near by, and it was burned to the ground. Then the police caught the boys, and they were all sent away to schools like this. It has been a good lesson for James, and his mother is proud of his improvement." "Boys don't realize what a dangerous thing fire is," said Miss Jackson, as she turned to go home. "If they only knew how much property is destroyed by fire every year, a large part of it through carelessness, they would be more thoughtful about starting a tiny blaze that might so easily become a great conflagration." _What were Jamie's "little faults"?_ _Into what trouble did they lead him?_ _Why did the boys set fire to the old barns?_ _Why is it dangerous to burn any building, no matter how old or useless it is?_ _Did you ever see a big fire in the country? In the city?_ _Describe it. What damage did it do? How was it extinguished?_ _Have you read in the newspaper about any big fires recently?_ _Where were they, and how were they caused?_ _Was your own house ever on fire? What did you do?_ It is against the law to burn a building, even if it is nothing but an old barn. No one can tell where a fire will end if it once gets a good start. Sparks will fly in all directions, and if there is a high wind they will blow for a long distance and set fire to the roofs of other buildings. A man who willfully sets fire to his own property, or that of his neighbors, is liable to imprisonment. Arson is a serious crime and calls for severe punishment. TEN YOUNG RATS Mr. and Mrs. Rat had ten babies. They were fat, glossy, little fellows, with long tails and shining black eyes, and they lived in a snug nest in the attic. You can't imagine how hard it was for their father and mother to find names for so many children. Mrs. Rat wanted this name; Mr. Rat preferred that; but they couldn't agree on a single one. At last they decided to wait until the babies were grown up, then they could tell just what name would suit each one best. It does not take long for baby rats to grow up, and in two or three weeks Father and Mother Rat began to name their children. The biggest one was Jumbo, the smallest they called Tiny. One had a very long tail and he was called Long Tail; another had almost no tail at all, so he was named Bobby. One rat was named Whiskers, because he had such handsome whiskers, and Spot had a tiny white spot over one of his eyes. Then there were Frisky, and Squeaker, and Listen, and Duncie. Mother Rat didn't like Duncie's name at all; but he was so very, very slow and stupid that Father Rat wouldn't let her call him anything else. "We can't expect every one of our ten children to be smart," he said. "If he is a dunce we must call him a dunce. That's all there is to it." Of course all these brothers and sisters had very jolly times together. They played tag, and hide-and-seek, and blind-man's buff, and all sorts of good games; but sometimes they had dreadful quarrels. In such a large family there are bound to be quarrels once in a while. When they began to scratch and bite, Father Rat gave them all a good spanking and sent them to bed. Then Mother Rat crept up to tuck them in, with a big piece of cheese hidden under her apron. The children usually obeyed their father and mother, and tried to be good little rats; but like all boys and girls they sometimes thought they knew more than their parents. Then they got into trouble. Father Rat had built his nest in the attic of an old-fashioned farmhouse out in the country. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes, who lived in the house, didn't seem to know anything about the ten young rats in the attic. Perhaps it was because they were very old and deaf, and didn't hear the little feet pattering across the floors and scampering up and down the walls. But the ten young rats knew all about Mr. and Mrs. Barnes. They knew where Mrs. Barnes kept her cheeses and cookies, and they gnawed big holes and made good roads through the walls from the attic to the pantry and cellar. They could find their way to the barn, too, where Mr. Barnes kept his corn and oats; and sometimes they used to slip into his hen-house and steal an egg for their supper. Mr. and Mrs. Rat were very thoughtful about teaching their children. Every morning there was a long lesson in the schoolroom corner of the attic. The ten young rats sat up straight in a row and did just as they were told. "Sniff!" said their mother, and they sniffed their little noses this way and that to see if they could smell a cat. "Listen!" said their father, and they cocked their little heads on one side, and pricked up their ears to hear the tiniest scratch he could make. "Scamper!" and they ran across the floor and slipped into a hole as quick as a wink. They were taught to steal eggs, and to avoid traps, and when they had a lesson in apples you should have seen them work! Every one of them, except Duncie, of course, could gnaw into an apple and pick out the seeds before Mother Rat could count ten. In Mrs. Barnes' storeroom there were long rows of tumblers filled with jelly. The tumblers were all sealed with paraffine, but the rats soon learned how to gnaw it off, and then what a feast they had! They were growing so bold that Father Rat began to be anxious about them. "You children ought to be a little more careful," he said. "You'll get into trouble some day." "We never have been caught," said Squeaker. "No," said Frisky, "and we never will be. We know too much for that." One morning Father and Mother Rat went to visit an old uncle who lived down beside the pond, and they left the ten young rats all alone. The minute they were gone Long Tail whispered, "Come on, Ratsies; let's go down to the cellar for some jelly." "Father told us not to," answered Whiskers. "'Fraid cat, 'fraid cat!" cried Frisky. "Who's going to be a 'fraid cat?" "Not I," said Spottie. "Not I," said Bobby; and in two seconds they were every one scampering down to the storeroom. They nibbled away at the jelly for a little while, but Bobby soon found a stone jar with a cover on it. "Come over here, Ratsies," he called. Whiskers sniffed at the cover three times. "There are grape preserves in that jar," he said at last. "We must have some," cried Bobby. "Yes, yes," squeaked Tiny; "there's nothing I like half so well as grape preserves." "I am the biggest," said Jumbo, "so I ought to get off the cover." He pulled and pushed, and worked away until the cover came off. "Goody, goody, goody!" squealed all the rats together, and they plunged in their paws and gobbled up the grapes so fast that their faces were soon purple and sticky with the sweet preserve. They were not very quiet about it, either. They forgot there was some one else in the house. Suddenly Listen pricked up his ears. "Ratsies," he whispered, "I hear a noise." And, sure enough, he did hear a noise; for down the cellar stairs came Nig, the big black cat. Then how those rats did scamper! They ran this way and that, across the floor, and up the wall, and under boxes and barrels. It seemed to Nig as if the cellar were full of rats. She caught one for her dinner. It was Duncie, of course; and then there were only nine rats in the family. They were all more careful for a little while; but young rats are very venturesome, and it wasn't many days before they wanted to go down into the pantry. Listen said he hadn't heard a sound all the morning, and so they decided to creep down very quietly. The truth was that Mr. and Mrs. Barnes had gone away for a month, and the house was empty; but of course the rats didn't know anything about that. There wasn't a single crumb on the pantry shelves, so they crept into the kitchen. Whiskers gave a long sniff, and before the others knew what he was doing, he was up on a shelf behind the stove. "Come on, brothers and sisters," he squealed. "Here is something that smells good. It seems to be on the end of little sticks, but we can gnaw it off." "Of course we can," cried Jumbo. "Let's all get to work." He tossed the matches around on the shelf, and the nine rats went to work with a will. Suddenly there was a hot little flame. Spot's eye-teeth were very sharp, and he had lighted the phosphorus on the end of his match. The flame lighted another match, and a little fire was soon burning merrily. It happened that Mr. Barnes had left a pile of old papers on the shelf beside the matches. They quickly took fire, and the frightened rat children fled in terror to the attic. "Oh, Mother! Oh, Father!" they screamed, "something dreadful has happened in the kitchen!" "There was a bright light, and a queer smell that choked us," panted Whiskers. Father Rat understood at once that there was a fire. He scolded the nine young rats for being in the kitchen at all. "We are in great danger," he said. "We must give up this home, and try to save our lives. I can smell the smoke now. Hurry, children, hurry!" Luckily rats don't have to pack up their clothes or throw their furniture out of the window. They escaped with their lives; but the old farmhouse was burned to the ground, all because Mr. Barnes had left the matches on the shelf beside the papers. _Where did Father Rat build his nest?_ _Why do rats prefer such places for their home?_ _What food did the young rats find in the storeroom?_ _What did they find in the kitchen?_ _What did they do with the matches?_ _What happened? Why?_ _How should this fire have been avoided?_ Rats and mice are attracted to places where they can obtain food, such as barns where grain is kept, rooms where food is stored or where refuse is thrown. Buildings, so far as possible, should be made "rat-proof." To insure safety, matches should be kept in tin cans, metal boxes, or jars. HOW NOT TO HAVE FIRES I When a boy plays with matches, or a man carelessly throws away a lighted cigar, he does not stop to think that the fire he causes goes to make up a part of the tremendous fire loss in our country. This loss amounts to about $250,000,000 a year. Sometimes, if there is a big fire in one of our large cities, the sum is much greater; sometimes it is a little less. This average loss of $250,000,000 means that property is burned up at the rate of $500 a minute for every one of the sixty minutes in every one of the twenty-four hours in all the three hundred and sixty-five days in the year. If this seems impossible to you, just multiply $500 by 60 � 24 � 365. It is said that two-thirds of all the fires in the country are caused by carelessness, ignorance, or lack of proper precaution, and that they might have been prevented. The question before every one in the United States--men, women, and children--is how not to have so many fires,--because the fires destroy forests which require at least fifty years to grow, timber which comes from these slow-growing forests, houses which have been built at great cost of time, labor, and money, and treasures and heirlooms which can never be replaced. Besides this loss of property there is also a great loss of life, which is too appalling to consider in this little book. The very best way not to have fires is not to set them. If you stop to think of it, there are not so very many different things that will start fires. Matches, kerosene, gas, gasoline, hot sparks, burning tobacco, fires in stoves, furnaces, and fire-places, hot ashes, lightning, and fires which start themselves by "spontaneous combustion," are the common causes of our losses; but there are hundreds, almost thousands, of different ways in which fires are set with these few materials. _Matches_ are one of the most useful things in the house, and also one of the most dangerous. They should be kept in a covered dish, out of the reach of children; and they should never be left lying around loose. The parlor match is especially dangerous as the head often flies off into curtains or clothing. After a match is once lighted it should never be thrown down carelessly. Put the stick that is left in the stove or in a match receiver. Never throw it in a basket of waste paper or on the floor. Even if it is thrown on the ground it might set fire to dry grass or leaves. You start a fire when you light a match. See that you put it out. _Kerosene_, used in lamps, lanterns, and oil-stoves, has caused untold loss and suffering. Never fill a lamp, lantern, or oil-stove when it is lighted. Never use kerosene to start the fire in the kitchen range. Never leave a lamp burning when you go out of the room, as it may explode or fill the house with smoke. Keep your lamps clean and see that the wick fits the burner. A clean, well-kept lamp will not explode. Never set a lamp on the table so that it can be easily tipped over, or on a sewing-machine where it can be pushed off with the work. Turn the wick down half-way before blowing out the lamp, and when the lamp is not lighted keep the wick below the burner so that the oil will not be drawn up and spread over the outside of the lamp. Never carry a lighted lamp into a closet where clothing is hanging. An electric flash-light is the only thing which can be used for this purpose with safety. _Gasoline_ is sometimes used in the house for cleaning clothing, curtains, gloves, etc. There is no material in the world so dangerous to handle, except possibly dynamite. Gasoline gives off a large volume of vapor which is both inflammable and explosive. For this reason it should never be used in a room where there is a candle, a lamp, a lighted cigar, or where there is a fire in the stove. The only safe place to use gasoline is out of doors, and even then the greatest caution should be taken. Keep the doors and windows closed so that none of the vapor can get into the house, and be very careful not to let any one come near you with a lighted cigar or pipe. Throw the waste gasoline on the ground; never pour it in the sink or down a waste pipe. Gasoline, naphtha, and benzine are similar substances, and are equally explosive and dangerous. All cans containing either one should be plainly marked to avoid mistakes, and should not be kept in or near the building. Many cleaning and polishing compounds contain naphtha, and should therefore be handled with extreme caution. Never leave any of these cans uncovered. Beware of leaks in the cans, and never forget that you are handling a dangerous material. _Hot ashes_ cause many fires. They should never be thrown into a wooden box or barrel, or piled up against the house, barn, or fence. Put them in a metal barrel with a metal cover. Do not put waste paper, rags, or rubbish in the ash barrel. Ashes will sometimes take fire of themselves, by spontaneous combustion, if they are wet. This is why it is unsafe to leave an ash pile near a fence or building. _Waste_ papers, rubbish, greasy cloths, oily waste and rags should be destroyed. They should never be allowed to collect in cellars, attics, or closets, under the stairs or in the yard. Keep the whole house clean. Dust, dirt, and rubbish are fire-breeders. This is especially true in factories, shops, fruit and grocery stores, schoolhouses, churches, and all public buildings. It is cheaper to throw away barrels, boxes, papers, sawdust, painter's cloths, old rags--waste of any kind--than to burn it up by setting the house on fire. THE KITCHEN FIRE Tommy Taylor was a lazy boy,--there wasn't a doubt of it. He didn't like to get up in the morning, and he didn't like to go to school. When his mother asked him to bring in some wood, he always said, "Can't you wait a minute?" and if she wanted him to do an errand he would answer, "Oh dear! Must I do it now?" He liked to play ball, of course; and he would spend the whole afternoon building a snow fort or carrying pails of water to make a hill icy for coasting; but he didn't call that work. It was play, and Tommy wasn't one bit lazy about playing. One noon when Tommy and his sister were eating dinner their mother said, "I'm going shopping this afternoon, and I may not get home until half-past five. I want both of you children to come straight home from school, and at five o'clock you can build the kitchen fire and put the tea-kettle on the stove. If you have a good fire it will not take me long to get supper ready. "Alice may take the key because she is older and more careful. She may build the fire, too; but you, Tommy, must get the wood, and help her all you can." Alice was only twelve years old, two years older than Tommy, but she felt very much grown up as she started off for school with the key of the back door in her pocket. "Wait for me to-night at the schoolyard gate," she told her brother, as they separated at the door to go to their class-rooms. "All right," said Tommy, "I will wait for you." But he forgot his promise when Jack Marsh whispered to him that the boys were going to build a snow fort in his yard; and he went whooping off with them the minute school was over, eager for the fun of a snow fight. It was nearly five o'clock when he remembered that his mother had told him to go straight home from school, but he stopped for just one more snowball battle, and when he finally reached home he found Alice at the door watching for him. "Here, Tommy," she said, "take this basket and get me some chips in the wood-shed. There are enough big sticks for the fire; but you forgot to bring in the kindling this noon." "I didn't have time," said Tommy, hurrying off with the basket; "but I'll get you some good chips in a minute." When he began to pick up the chips, he found that they were all wet with snow, for the last time it stormed he had left the door open and the snow had blown in on the woodpile. There were some dry chips in a farther corner, but it was too much work to climb over the wood to get them, and besides, Alice was in a hurry; so he picked up the wet chips, shook off the snow, and carried the basketful into the kitchen. "I don't believe I can build the fire with this kind of kindling," said Alice, as she began laying it in the stove. "It is so wet that it will not burn." "Oh, yes, it will, if you use paper enough," her brother told her, and when Alice struck a match and lighted the fire it went roaring up the chimney. "I knew those chips would burn," said Tommy. "Now put in some big sticks of wood." Just then the fire stopped roaring, and when Alice lifted the cover to find out what was the matter, she could see nothing but a thin curl of smoke. "Put in some more paper," her brother advised, "you didn't have enough before." So Alice put in more paper and chips, and lighted the fire again. It burned up brightly for a minute and then settled down into a discouraging smoulder. "Oh dear!" she sighed, as she took off the cover and looked into the stove once more, "there is nothing but a tiny blaze down in one corner. Run and get some dry chips, Tommy. I can't do anything with these wet ones." "I'll tell you what to do," said her brother, who was putting on his slippers and didn't want to go out to the shed again; "pour in some kerosene. That will make the fire burn. I saw Mother do it once when she was in a hurry." "That's so," said Alice. "I didn't think of that," and she went to the closet to get the kerosene can. It was so light when she lifted it that she thought it must be empty; but when she shook it she found there was a very little oil in the bottom of the can. "Here, I'll pour it on for you," said Tommy, and as Alice raised the cover of the stove, he tipped up the can and poured a tiny stream of oil over the wet wood. The little blaze in the corner was still flickering feebly. It saw the oil coming and rushed up to meet it. "Whee-ee-ee!" it cried, "there's something that will burn. That's just what I like;" and it ran merrily across the wood and flashed up to the can in Tommy's hand. Tommy was so frightened that he let the can fall on the floor, but not before the oil in it had caught fire. Fortunately there were only a few drops left, so the can did not explode; but the wood and paper in the stove were now burning furiously. There was a terrible roaring in the chimney, and clouds of black smoke poured out into the room. "Oh, Tommy," screamed Alice, "what shall we do? We have set the house on fire!" "No, we haven't," replied her brother; "it is dying down a little now. Open the windows and let out some of this smoke." Alice opened the windows, and when the roaring had ceased, and the chips had burned to ashes, the two children sat down and looked at each other. Neither one could speak a word. Mrs. Taylor came in just then, and when Alice saw her she burst into tears. "What is the matter?" questioned her mother, sitting down and taking the child in her arms; but Alice could only sob that they almost set the house on fire. "It was all my fault," spoke up Tommy. "I got some wet chips to build the fire, because I was too lazy to climb over the woodpile and get some dry ones. Then when they wouldn't burn I told Alice to pour on kerosene." Mrs. Taylor put her arm around Tommy and drew him to her side. "My son," she said, "it was your fault that the chips were wet; but it was ten times my fault that you poured kerosene on the fire. If it has taught you a lesson, it has taught me one, too. I shall never use kerosene again to light a fire. It is a very dangerous thing to do. "We often read in the paper of serious fires that have been caused in just such a way, sometimes even with a loss of life. Promise me now that you will never pour another drop of kerosene into the stove as long as you live, and I will give you my promise, too. Now let's all build the fire, together." So Tommy ran cheerfully out to the shed and brought in a big basketful of dry chips, Alice crumpled up the paper, her mother lighted the match, and in a few minutes the kitchen fire was blazing merrily. _Why did Tommy bring in the wet chips?_ _Why did not the fire burn well at first?_ _What did Tommy suggest using? Why? What happened?_ _What might have happened if the kerosene can had been full?_ _What is the proper use of kerosene?_ RULES FOR THE USE OF KEROSENE Always keep kerosene in a metal can. Always keep the can tightly closed, and keep it as far from the stove as possible. Never use kerosene to light a fire. Never, never use it to start up a slow fire. You will probably set yourself or the house on fire if you do. Fill all the lamps and oil-stoves by daylight. If you must fill them after dark, never do so while they are still lighted. The flame in the lamp might set fire to the kerosene vapor in the air, and this in turn ignite the oil. If the fire runs up the stream of oil into the can, the can will explode. Remember that the three most dangerous things in the world for setting fires are _kerosene_, _gasoline_, and _matches_. HOW NOT TO HAVE FIRES II There is an old saying that "A fool can build a fire, but it takes a wise man to keep it burning." This is not true of the fire in the kitchen stove, which should always be built by a wise and thoughtful person. The kitchen fire has caused the loss of many lives and an enormous amount of property. In laying the fire use paper and dry kindlings. Never pour on kerosene. Do not fill the stove too full of paper, as the smoke may accumulate and blow open the door, thus scattering the burning embers around the room. After the fire is burning well, close the drafts. Do not allow the stove to get red-hot, as it will not only warp the covers and crack the stove, but it may set fire to the woodwork on the walls or floor. A roaring fire will sometimes set fire to the soot in the chimney, or carry burning sparks to the roof of the house. The stove should be set at least eighteen inches away from the woodwork, and the floor beneath it should be covered with brick, tiles, or a sheet of metal. Never leave the house, or go to bed, when the drafts of the stove or furnace are open. Overheated furnaces have caused many serious fires in the night. Even a low fire will sometimes burn up unexpectedly, especially if the wind blows hard enough to create a strong draft. Do not allow waste or rubbish to collect near the furnace, and do not keep the wood-box near the stove. _Chimneys_ should be carefully inspected, and repaired when it is necessary, as they frequently crack with the settling of the house. They should be cleaned occasionally to prevent the accumulation of soot, which will burn with a fierce heat, setting the attic or roof on fire. If there are open chimney-holes in any of the rooms in the house do not stuff them, or cover them, with paper, especially if they are in the same flues which are used for stoves, furnaces, or fire-places. Chimney-holes should always be covered with a tightly-fitted cap or "thimble" made of metal. These caps can be bought of a tin-smith for a small sum. If the soot in the chimney is on fire, shake on salt or sulphur to extinguish the flames. _Fire-places_ add a great deal to the attractiveness of a house, but they are especially dangerous if there are children in the family. The sparks often fly out into the room, setting fire to rugs or clothing; babies crawl too near the open blaze; or little girls stand too near the hearth and their thin dresses or aprons are drawn into the fire by the strong upward draft. Every fire-place should have a hearth of bricks or tiles at least two feet wide, and the fire should be protected by a wire screen. If there are young children in the household, there should also be a fender to keep them at a safe distance from the flames. Some kinds of light wood, especially chestnut and hemlock, will snap and produce many sparks. These sparks fly out in all directions unless the fire is covered with a wire screen. Do not build a roaring fire in the fire-place, as it may carry sparks to the roof. All fire-places, open grates, and gas-logs should be surrounded by bricks or tiles, so that the woodwork will not catch fire. In many cities there are laws regulating the construction of chimneys and fire-places. _Pipes_, _cigars_, and _cigarettes_ have caused nearly $10,000,000 worth of damage by fire. Lighted matches thrown away by careless smokers have added $15,000,000 more to this enormous waste. Every one of these fires was absolutely unnecessary. Cigar and cigarette stubs should not be thrown into waste baskets, rubbish heaps, dry grass or leaves. They should never be dropped from the window, as they might set fire to an awning, and they should not be allowed to fall through a grating where there may be a collection of waste paper and rubbish. If you see a lighted cigar or cigarette stub in the street, crush it under your heel until the fire is all out. If there is one in your house, throw it in the stove. In this way you may save property and human life. _Christmas_ and _Fourth of July_ are the two happiest days in the whole year for children, yet oftentimes they are followed by sorrow and suffering. Christmas trees, when they are lighted by candles, are easily set on fire, as they are often decorated with festoons of paper, and cotton "frost," which comes in contact with the tiny flames. Many of the ornaments on the tree are made of celluloid. These ornaments catch fire easily and flare up with a quick hot flame, thus setting fire to the branches, which are full of pitch and resin and burn freely. No one but a grown person should light the candles. Children should be kept at a safe distance from the tree, doors and windows should be closed to exclude the draft, a constant watch should be kept while the candles are burning, and they should all be extinguished before a single present is taken from the tree. This is especially important if the presents are distributed by Santa Claus, as his long beard, and the cotton fur on his clothing, are easily ignited from the candles. The celebration of the Fourth of July is one of the most serious problems in the country. Fireworks are dangerous play-things and should be used with the greatest caution. Every year many persons are killed or injured, and valuable property is destroyed by the careless use of fireworks. There are some kinds of fireworks which should never be used under any circumstances. Among these are cannon crackers, fire balloons, toy pistols, toy cannon, bombs, and revolvers firing blank cartridges. On the day before the Fourth, all yards should be cleared of rubbish, as falling sparks might set it on fire. During the day of the celebration cellar windows should be closed, and stables and barns should be opened only when necessary. In many cities the sale of dangerous fireworks is prohibited by law; but a common fire-cracker, a Roman candle, or a sky-rocket may cause serious damage if it is not handled properly. THE SUNSHINE BAND The Sunshine Band was made up of twelve little girls, one for each of the twelve letters in their name. They wore badges of yellow ribbon just the color of sunshine, with the letters S. B. painted on them in white, and every time they had a meeting they sang their own special song;-- "Scatter sunshine all along your way, Cheer and bless and brighten every passing day." They had a secret, too, and a motto. Their motto was "Scatter Sunshine," and their secret--but I'm not going to tell you their secret. They didn't even tell me. I just guessed it. They met every Saturday afternoon, first at one house and then another. Each little girl was always expected to tell a sunshine story, and if any one had disobeyed the rules of the club she had to pay a fine. Perhaps you will think that the rules were not so very hard to remember, but every once in a while a penny went clinking down to the bottom of their bank. First of all they were expected to bring sunshine into their own homes. They must say "Good-morning" cheerfully, no matter if the day were cloudy and dismal. They must come to the table with clean hands and faces and a pleasant smile; and they must not frown or look cross if their mother asked them to wipe the dishes when they wanted to play out of doors. Then all day long they must keep their eyes and ears open to find some helpful thing to do, no matter how small it might be; and if, at night, they had not done one tiny useful thing they must make a black cross against the day. You would hardly believe how much sunshine they could make with very little trying, and how many pleasant tales they had to tell at their meetings. Two of the girls gathered flowers every week for one of the hospitals; one did errands for a neighbor who was lame; three, who had sweet voices, gave little concerts at the home for aged women, and another read aloud to a blind girl every Monday afternoon after school. Sometimes they packed boxes of old books and toys to send to a mission school in the South, and once they shook every penny out of their bank to buy fruit for a little sick girl. Miss Hastings, who was the teacher of their class in Sunday-school, was also the leader of the band; and whenever they had an especially good sunshine story they carried it to her. She kept their badge of honor, too, unless some one was wearing it as a reward for good service. [Illustration: In the largest cities the firemen find their hardest work] One Saturday afternoon, as soon as their meeting was over, they hurried off to her house. "Oh! Miss Hastings," they cried, when she opened the door, "Hilda Browning told the best story of all to-day, and we want her to have the badge right away." "What is it, Hilda?" questioned Miss Hastings, after she had led the way to her sunny living-room. "Tell her," urged all the other girls when Hilda hung back, her face rosy with blushes. "It was nothing," said Hilda shyly, "I just happened to be there at the right time. That was all." "Happened to be where?" asked the teacher, "and what do you mean by the right time?" "At Mrs. Hazen's," said three or four of the girls at once. "The curtain caught fire from the gas jet and Hilda tore it down and threw it out of the window." "Wait a minute!" begged their teacher, putting her hands over her ears; "I can't hear what you say when you all talk together. Now, Hilda, begin at the beginning." So, with many promptings from the girls, who had heard the story from Mrs. Hazen herself, Hilda told how she had saved the house from fire. "You know Mrs. Hazen has been sick with rheumatism for over a year," she said. "Her daughter, who has always taken care of her, has gone away for a two weeks' vacation, so I have been going there every afternoon after school to stay for an hour while the nurse takes a walk. "Yesterday I said I would stay two hours because it was Friday and I didn't have any lessons to learn; and I took over my 'Youth's Companion' to read a story. "It was such a cloudy afternoon that it grew dark while I was reading and Mrs. Hazen told me to light the gas. When I finished the story she asked me to open the bed-room window to let in some fresh air, and then bring her a glass of water. "As I opened the kitchen door to get the water, a gust of wind blew the muslin window-curtain into the gas flame. It blazed up in an instant and Mrs. Hazen screamed for help." "And when Hilda ran into the room and saw the curtain on fire she pulled it down with her bare hands and threw it out of the window," put in Ethel Strong. "The fingers on her right hand are all blistered, but she saved the house from catching fire." "Perhaps she saved Mrs. Hazen's life, too," added Dorothy Hovey. "You know Mrs. Hazen has the rheumatism so badly that she cannot take a single step, and if she had been alone no one knows what might have happened." "Now, Miss Hastings, don't you think Hilda deserves the badge of honor?" spoke up Alice Hunter. "Yes, she certainly does," replied Miss Hastings, and, as she spoke, she took from its box a gold pin with the letters S. S. in blue enamel, and fastened it at Hilda's throat. "Not all of us may ever have an opportunity to save a house from fire, or a life from danger," she added; "but if Hilda had not been doing a little kindness she would not have been ready in time of need to do a greater one." _Why did the girls call themselves the Sunshine Band?_ _What were some of their rules?_ _What did the letters S. S. mean on their badge of honor?_ _What kind things did they do?_ _How did the muslin curtain catch fire?_ _How could this have been prevented?_ _Why is it dangerous to have a gas jet near a window?_ _How should all gas flames be protected?_ A gas jet should always be protected by a glass globe or a wire frame, and the bracket should be rigid so that it cannot be folded back against the wood-work, and cannot swing against curtains or draperies. If the curtain catches fire, pull it down quickly and smother the flames with a heavy rug. A woman should never attempt to stamp out the flames, as her skirts will easily catch fire. If there is an odor of gas anywhere in the house, especially in a dark closet, do not search for the leak with a match or a lighted candle. If you should happen to find the leak you might cause an explosion or set the house on fire. VACATION AT GRANDPA'S Did I ever tell you about the time we boys set Grandpa Snow's barn on fire? It happened long ago, but I shall never forget it, if I live to be a hundred years old. Kenneth and I always thought no better luck would ever come to us than to be told that we might spend the last week of July and the whole month of August with Grandpa and Grandma Snow. Grandpa Snow owned a large farm up among the Green Mountains, and as our home was in the city, you can imagine how much it meant to us to hear that we were to spend five long weeks in the country. I was eleven years old and Kenneth was eight, and as we had to change cars but once, Father said we might go all the way alone. We left the station at eight o'clock in the morning, in the care of a good-natured, obliging conductor who promised to see that we changed cars safely at White River Junction, and the long ride in the train seemed just a part of the vacation fun. I truly think that we did just as Mother would have liked us to do all that day. She looked so sweet and earnest when she bade us good-bye and said, "Now, boys, be kind and polite to everyone who speaks to you," that we couldn't help remembering her words. There was a tired-looking woman on the train. She had a little boy who was tired, too, and he kept crying and fussing, until at last Kenneth said he was going to take him over in our seat and amuse him. The boy was a jolly little fellow, about the age of our dear little baby sister at home, and we three had such a good time together that we could hardly believe our ears when the brakeman shouted out, "Walden! Walden!" We gathered our bags and boxes together in a hurry, and bade good-bye to our new-found friends. In a minute we were out on the station platform, and the train was whizzing away without us; but we didn't have time to wonder if any one were coming to meet us, for down the road came Grandpa Snow, rattling along in a big hay-rack and waving his old straw hat at us. "Hello, boys!" he said, as he pulled up his horses beside the platform; "we were pretty busy in the hay-field to-day, so I thought I could come right along, and give you a ride in my new hay-wagon. There's no fancy top on it, but there is plenty of room for both of you young chaps and all your baggage. You'll like it better than an automobile ride, I'll wager. So this is Leslie and Kenneth, is it? You surely have grown! Why, I can hardly tell one from the other, but I'll trust Grandma to know. She always seems to understand boys pretty well." After a hug, and a hand-shake, and a hearty laugh, we jogged along up the road. Even if we were only boys I don't believe we shall ever forget that ride. It was late in the afternoon, and the air was so cool and sweet that it hardly seemed as if it could be the same hot, dusty day we began in the city. We could smell the cedar and fir-balsam all along the way, and every little while there was a bird-note like a sweet-toned bell. It wasn't very long before we spied Grandpa's house, and dear old Grandma in the door waving her apron to us. "Well, Mother," called out Grandpa, as we drove into the yard, "here are two new hired men for you. How do you think you will like them?" By the way Grandma hugged us and kissed us, I guess she thought we would suit her pretty well. I remember something that suited us, too, and that was the good things we had to eat that night. I wonder if there is any one else in the whole world who can cook like one's own grandmother? Perhaps there is,--but I know one thing, Grandma Snow was the best cook I ever saw. You should have seen that supper! There were hot biscuits, and fried chicken, and honey, and gingerbread, and cookies, and strawberry tarts, and cottage cheese, and so many good things that we couldn't eat half of them. Every time we stopped eating Grandma would say, "Something must be the matter with these boys. They haven't any appetite." And Grandpa would look at us over his spectacles and answer, "They do look pale and thin. Give them another tart." Then he'd give one of his great laughs and shake all over like a big bowl of jelly. We had just time after supper to help Grandpa and the hired man get in one load of hay. Then it was dark, and we were so tired and sleepy that we were glad to climb into bed,--just the highest, whitest, softest bed you ever saw. We made Grandma promise to call us very early, and at five o'clock the next morning we were ready for breakfast and the day's work in the hay-field. What fun it was to rake after the wagon, and to ride home on those great, sweet-smelling loads of hay! Of course we had plenty of time to play, but we liked to work, too; and the work on a farm seems like play to boys who have always lived in the city. We used to go down to the garden every morning to pick the vegetables for dinner, and we always helped Grandma shell the peas and string the beans. It took a good big panful, too, for we were pretty hungry up there on the farm. Every morning we drove the cows to the pasture, and every afternoon we drove them home. We hunted for hens' eggs in the big barn, and went blueberrying and blackberrying. Kenneth made a collection of wild flowers, and Grandma showed him how to press them so that he could take them home. What good times we did have! Even on rainy days there was always something to do, and we often had the most fun of all when it was raining the hardest. All the boys in the neighborhood got into the habit of coming to play with us in one of Grandpa's barns; and we used to have circuses and tight-rope walking and all sorts of games. But one day, when we had been having a very jolly time together, one of the boys suggested that we should try a new game. "I'm tired of walking on beams and jumping off hay-mows," he said. "Let's do something different." He took a whole bunch of matches out of his pocket and held them up. "Let's try scratching matches, and see who can scratch the most and blow them out again in one minute," he suggested. I, for one, knew very well that matches were not made to play with, and I said so. Kenneth and Willie Smith agreed with me. So did Joe Wiggin and Peter Fisher, but four or five of the boys thought it would be great fun, and in spite of all we could say the match-race began. Four boys sat down in a circle on the barn floor, lighting and blowing out the matches just as fast as they could, while Harry Plummer counted sixty. In their hurry, they threw the matches down carelessly, and before any of us noticed it, a lighted match had been thrown into the hay. It blazed up in an instant, and before we could run to the field for help the whole barn was a roaring furnace. Joe Wiggin and Peter Fisher led out the two horses, and fortunately, the cows were in the pasture, for in less than half an hour the barn was burned to the ground. All the hay that we had worked so hard to get in was lost, besides some of Grandpa's tools and his new hay-rack. Grandpa and the hired man got there in time to save the harnesses and a few little things, and then all we could do was just to stand there and watch the barn burn. The nearest fire-engine was in the village four miles away, and all the water we had was in one well. Luckily Grandpa's buildings were not joined together, and as there was no wind, only that one barn was burned. But that was one too many. I tell you, I shall never forget that fire, and to this day I can't see a boy with matches in his pocket without wanting to tell him this story and urge him to remember all his life that matches are made for use and not for playthings. _Tell of some of the good times you have had on a farm._ _What did the boys do on rainy days?_ _What game did one of them propose?_ _What happened while they were playing this game?_ _What are matches made for?_ _How should they be used?_ There are several kinds of matches,--brimstone matches, parlor matches, bird's-eye matches, and safety matches. Safety matches can be lighted only on their own box, and are, therefore, the safest match to use. Parlor matches, so called, are dangerous, as they break easily and the blazing head flies off, lodging in clothing, draperies, or furniture. The sale of parlor matches is forbidden by law in New York City on account of the great number of fires which have resulted from their use. Common matches should be kept in a tin box; they should be used carefully, and never thrown away while they are burning, or even while the stick is still red-hot. It is a bad habit to have matches scattered around the house, or lying loose in bureau drawers, in desks, on tables, or in the pockets of clothing. There are many ways in which fires have been caused by loose matches. Lucifer or brimstone matches have been known to burst into flame from the heat caused by the sun's rays shining through a window pane. THE FIRE DRILL It was a warm, sunny afternoon in October,--one of the days of Indian summer that come to tempt us out of doors after vacation is over, and work has begun in earnest. The pupils of the sixth grade in the Ashland School looked longingly out of the windows as they put away their spellers and took the reading-books from their desks. Their teacher saw the look, and understood what it meant. When the hands of the clock pointed to half-past two, and the bell rang for a five-minutes' recess, she said, "You may put on your hats and coats, and we will spend a half-hour in our garden. I noticed this noon that it needed some attention." The children looked at each other and nodded eagerly. It was just the day for a lesson in gardening, of that they felt sure, especially if it meant a whole half-hour out of doors. The school garden was their greatest pleasure. They had spent many a happy hour working together over the flower beds, since that morning in April when Miss Brigham had ended their lesson in nature-study by asking, "How many would like to help me make a garden in the schoolyard?" Every hand flew up instantly, every face brightened with delight. There was not a boy or girl in the room who was not eager to begin at once; and the moment the frost was well out of the ground they went to work. The boys spaded up the soil, and the girls helped rake it over and mark it out in beds. There was a narrow strip the whole length of the fence for a hedge of sunflowers, and in front of it were three square plots, one for each of the three classes in the grade. The children sent everywhere for seed catalogues, and studied them eagerly. Each class bought its own seeds and planted them, and once every week they spent a half-hour hoeing, weeding, and watering the garden. In one plot morning-glories climbed over a wire trellis and turned their bright faces to the morning sun, in another there was a gay riot of nasturtiums. During the summer the girls picked fragrant bouquets of sweet peas, and all through the fall they gathered sunny yellow marigolds for the teacher's desk. But now Jack Frost had taken his turn at gardening. The nasturtiums and morning-glories hung in ragged festoons from their trellises, and the heavy heads of the sunflowers drooped from the top of the dry stalks. There was nothing left in the garden but a few hardy weeds that had grown in spite of the watchful gardeners. "I don't see anything to do," said one of the girls, as she followed Miss Brigham across the schoolyard. "We may as well let the weeds grow now if they want to." "We must clear everything away and get the garden ready for next spring," replied the teacher. "You can see for yourselves what ought to be done. I will stand here and watch you work." After all there was plenty to do. One of the boys took out his knife and cut off the sunflower stalks, while the girls picked off the few seeds that the yellow-birds had left, and tied them up in a paper to save them for another year. They tore down the vines, and pulled up the marigolds and zinnias. They straightened the trellises and smoothed over the empty beds. Then they picked up bits of paper that were blowing over the yard, and raked up the leaves that had fallen from the maple tree in the corner. When the work was finished there was a big pile of rubbish to be taken away. "We might have a bonfire," suggested one of the boys. "No," said Miss Brigham, "this west wind would blow all the smoke into the schoolhouse. Besides, there are too many houses near by. You can put the rubbish in the waste-barrels in the basement, and the janitor will take care of it." The other children went back to the schoolroom, while the three largest boys were left to clean up the yard. The waste-barrels were full and running over; but they hunted around in the cellar and found an empty box in which they packed all the rubbish. Then they went upstairs and took up their work with the rest of the class. Suddenly the big gong in the hall rang out sharply for the fire drill,--one, two, three! At the third stroke every book was closed, and in the sixteen rooms of the building all the pupils rose at once to their feet, ready to march down to the street. The doors were thrown wide open, and they passed out of their class-rooms in double file to meet another file from the opposite door, and move down the stairs four abreast, keeping step to the double-quick march played by one of the teachers. On their way they passed the dressing-rooms, but no one took hat or cap from the hooks. There was not a moment to lose. Every child must be in the street in less than two minutes after the stroke of the third bell. They had done it over and over again, in exactly this same way, and the principal was standing at the door with his watch in his hand, counting off the seconds. He would know if a single child kept the line waiting. "What a good day it is for a fire drill!" they thought, as they passed through the long halls and down the stairs; but before the last of the older pupils were out of the building they realized that this was no fire drill. Smoke was already pouring through the cracks in the floor and curling up around the registers. It filled the hall with a thick cloud that made them cough and choke as they marched through it; but not a boy pushed the boys in front of him, not a girl screamed or left her place, as the line moved steadily down the steps and across the yard to the street. Two of the teachers stood at the gates to hurry the children off toward home, and even before the firemen came clattering around the corner, the big schoolhouse was empty and the pupils were safe. After the fire was out and the excitement over, the fire chief and the principal sent for the boys who had taken the rubbish to the basement. Yes, they had lighted some matches, they said, because the cellar was dark, the waste-barrels were all full, and they were trying to find an empty box. The head of one of the matches had broken off, but it was not burning, and they had not thought of it again. It was possible that they might have stepped on it later and lighted it, and that the tiny flame had set fire to the waste paper on the floor. "That was no doubt the cause of the fire," the fire chief agreed. "Parlor matches are often lighted in that same way. This was, of course, an accident; but even accidents can be avoided. "In the first place there should never be any waste paper on the basement floor; and in the second place boys should never carry parlor matches, or any other kind of matches, to school. There are more precious lives in a schoolhouse than in any other building in the whole world." _Why was the rubbish put in the basement?_ _How did it catch fire?_ _How could this fire have been avoided?_ _Why is it dangerous to carry matches to school?_ _Why are parlor matches especially unsafe?_ _Have you ever seen a match break off when it was scratched?_ _What became of the head of the match?_ Schoolhouses and public buildings should be provided with a metal-lined bin where waste paper and refuse may be temporarily collected, instead of allowing it to accumulate on the basement floor or in wooden boxes and barrels. This bin should be located away from the stairs or corridors, and should be so placed that water-pipes passing over it may be provided with sprinklers which would open automatically in case of fire. There should be fire-escapes on the large buildings, and children should be taught how to use them. All doors should open outward, and should never be locked during the school sessions. Fire drills should be practiced regularly, and every child in the building should understand the necessity for marching out promptly and in order. Chemical fire-extinguishers, or pails well filled with water and marked "For Fire Only," should be set in conspicuous places on each floor near the stair-landings, and in the basements. FIGHTING THE FIRE Every village, town, and city is liable at any moment to have a fire. If this fire gets well under way it may become a conflagration, which no single fire department can control. For this reason promptness in reaching the fire with suitable apparatus is of the very first importance. Great responsibility rests upon the firemen. They must be cool-headed, but quick in action; cautious, but daring; ready in an instant to perform difficult and dangerous tasks, often at the risk of their own lives. Every great fire makes heroes. It is this life of excitement and daring that attracts men and makes them eager to fight the great battles against fire. In olden times methods of fighting fire were very simple. The only apparatus consisted of axes, buckets, ropes, and short ladders. Men and boys ran to the fire and did their best to put out the flames, but they had no leader and could not work to advantage. The first fire-engines were drawn through the streets by men, instead of horses, and water was forced through the hose by means of a hand-pump worked by these same men. Every year the system of fire protection is being perfected, new apparatus is invented, and better methods are introduced. In the smaller towns the fire companies consist largely of volunteer firemen, who leave their work at the sound of the alarm and hurry to the scene of action. But in the larger cities the fire-department is like a well-organized army, with its chiefs, captains, lieutenants, and privates, always prepared to wage a never-ending war against the fires. Most of these men live in the engine-houses, and are ready at any moment, day or night, to answer an alarm. The horses stand free in their stalls, awaiting the signal, trained like the men to instant action. With the first stroke of the great gong the horses leave their stalls and stand beside the pole of the engine. The harness, suspended in mid-air, falls upon their backs, and almost before the men can jump up and cling to their places on the engine, the driver picks up the reins, the horses plunge through the open door and gallop madly down the street. The driver leans out over the pole, his hands far apart, holding the reins in an iron grasp and guiding the flying horses safely along the winding way. Gongs clang, whistles blow, bells ring! The streets are cleared as if by magic. Heavy teams are drawn up beside the curbing; electric cars stand still; men, women, and children hurry to the sidewalks, or stand in open doorways waiting for the engines to go tearing along to the fire. The fire apparatus has the right of way! When the scene of the fire is reached, the driver pulls up the horses so quickly that they are almost thrown on their haunches; the engine is wheeled into place beside the hydrant, the hose is attached and straightened out along the street. The police have already drawn a fire-line, and are driving back the eager, curious crowd; but the firemen have eyes or ears for nothing but the fire. The chief shouts his orders and they hasten to obey. The horses are led away to a place of safety, and ladders are brought up to be used in case of need. [Illustration: The water-tower pours a stream into the upper windows] Two or three men seize the nozzle of the great hose and rush with it into the burning building to seek the heart of the fire. Smoke pours from the doors and windows in dense clouds, blinding and choking them until they gasp for breath. Water slops and spatters everywhere, steam rises from the blazing timbers, and the intense heat scorches and stifles them as they work. At last the smoke clears away, the water is shut off, and then, with picks and axes, the firemen search under fallen timbers lest some tiny blaze may still be smouldering in a hidden corner. At a quick order from the chief, the hose is rapidly drawn back and folded in its place, the horses are harnessed again to the engine, and the men return to the engine-house, to await their next call to action. In the largest cities, which have grown rapidly skyward, piling one story on top of another in office buildings and dwelling houses, the firemen find their hardest work. This is especially true in the crowded tenement districts, where hundreds of people live under a single roof. Here men, women, and children have to be rescued from upper windows and roofs, by means of scaling-ladders and life-lines; and sometimes they even have to drop into life-nets which the firemen hold to catch them. If the building is so high that the water from the hose cannot reach the flames, the water-tower is brought to the scene of action, and a stream is poured into the building through windows many stories above the ground. In every large fire-department several different kinds of apparatus are needed. There is a chemical engine for use in case the fire proves to be small and easily controlled. There are long trucks loaded with ladders, tools, and ropes; and there are also the regular fire engines, sometimes drawn by plunging horses, sometimes driven through the streets at a high rate of speed by a powerful motor. These motors are superior to horses because they can reach the fire more quickly, and can carry heavier and more powerful engines. In the harbors, and in some of the larger rivers and lakes, there are fire-boats to be used in case of fire along the water-front, or in vessels at the docks. These boats always have plenty of water at hand, and often do valuable work in saving property on the wharfs and piers. VERNON'S BROTHER If any one had asked Vernon Houston what he wanted more than anything in the whole world, he would not have waited an instant before replying, "A brother!" He had pets of all kinds,--rabbits, guinea pigs, a dog, and a pony; but still his lonely little heart longed for a brother, some one to enjoy all his pleasures, some one to go to school with, some one to play with when his father and mother were away and only Jane was left in the kitchen. To be sure he had books and games without number, but he soon grew tired of reading, and what good were games when there was no one to play with him? Of course he had plenty of school friends and playmates, but on stormy days, or when he and Jane were left all alone, there were never any boys to be found,--just when he most needed them. In spite of his dog and his pony and all his rabbits he couldn't help being a little lonely. Whenever he saw two brothers playing together, he always thought how glad he would be to exchange every one of his pets--pony and all--for a little brother, and every Christmas he wrote a letter to Santa Claus to ask for one. On his ninth birthday his father and mother surprised him by saying that they were going to Boston. They promised to come home the next day and bring him the best birthday gift he ever had in all his life; but what this delightful gift was to be they would not tell. It was a secret, and a very good secret, too. To tell the truth Mr. and Mrs. Houston had decided to adopt a little boy. They had been planning it for some time, but Vernon knew nothing about it. They had always been sorry for their brotherless son, and they knew how many boys there are in the world who have no home, no father and mother, no one to love them and care for them. They had been waiting to hear of some homeless lad, who was good and honest, to take into their home and hearts, and to become the "little brother" for whom Vernon longed. At last a man telephoned from Boston that he had found just the boy they wanted, so they set off at once to bring home the birthday gift. When they looked into Harry's bright eyes and honest face, they were not long in deciding that he was just the right boy for them. Mrs. Houston bent and kissed him, and Mr. Houston took him by the hand, saying kindly, "Harry, how would you like to come and live with us, to be our boy, and a brother to our son, Vernon?" Harry was too happy to say a word, but his big brown eyes answered for him, and it was not long before they were all three on their way to Greenfield. I wish you could have seen Vernon when his father and mother arrived with the birthday gift. "Here, my boy, is the secret,--the brother you have been waiting for so long," said Mr. Houston. "Let me introduce you to your new brother Harry. He has come to stay as long as he can be happy with you. He is only a few months younger than you are, and I don't see why you two boys can't have a good time together." It seemed as if the boys had only to look straight into each other's eyes to become the best of friends, and if you could have watched them as the days went by, you would have thought they were as happy as children could possibly be. Vernon brought out all his playthings and gave half of them to Harry; he showed him how to make Rags do all sorts of funny tricks; he let him feed the rabbits and the guinea-pigs; and when they went to ride, he let Harry drive the pony. How the little fellow did enjoy holding the reins and riding in a red pony-cart like those he had looked at so many times before with longing eyes. The two boys ran races, played ball, and went to school together. Vernon never complained of being lonely, and as for Harry, he was the happiest boy you ever saw. He tried to show how grateful he was for everything that Mr. and Mrs. Houston did for him; and he resolved to study hard, to be honest and true, and never to forget to do all in his power to repay his kind friends. The brothers had a room together with two white beds standing side by side. One night Mr. Houston came home very late and found that the boys had gone to bed, so he went to their room to bid them good-night. He was much surprised to find both the boys reading a book, with a lighted lamp on a little stand between their beds. "My sons," he said very seriously, "I always like to see you enjoying your books, but I cannot allow you to read after you are in bed." "Why not, Father?" questioned Vernon. "Because it is a dangerous thing to do," Mr. Houston replied. "You might fall asleep without blowing out the light. It is a common thing to have such an accident. Lamps are often tipped over and houses set on fire in just that way." "But, Father," urged Vernon, "please let us finish this chapter. It will take only a few minutes longer, and it is such a good story." "You may finish this one chapter," Mr. Houston answered. "Then you must blow out the light, and after to-night there must be no more reading in bed with a lighted lamp." The boys meant to obey their father; but they were both very sleepy, and before the end of the chapter was reached, they were sound asleep. It was not long before Vernon restlessly threw out his arm. His hand hit the lamp and knocked it off the table, and the oil spread over the carpet, taking fire from the burning wick. Rags had crept into the room to sleep on his little master's bed, and the noise waked him. When he saw the blazing oil, he jumped down and ran out into the hall, barking with all his might. Mr. and Mrs. Houston rushed upstairs and beat out the flames with heavy rugs, before the bed clothing caught fire; but the boys were terribly frightened, and no one ever had to tell them again not to read in bed with a lighted lamp. They had learned a good lesson, and little Rags had become a never-to-be-forgotten hero. _Why was Vernon lonely?_ _What gift did he have on his ninth birthday?_ _Why did the boys set a lighted lamp on the table beside their bed?_ _How was it overturned?_ _Where was Rags? What did he do?_ _How should this fire have been avoided?_ A lamp, a lantern, or an oil-stove should not be placed where it could possibly be upset. Neither should it be blown out until the wick has been turned half-way down, as the flame might be blown into the oil, thus causing an explosion. To turn down the wick too low, however, is also dangerous. All brass or metal work on a lamp or oil-stove should be kept clean and bright, as dirty metal retains the heat, thus causing vapor to rise from the oil, and making an explosion possible. THE WORLD'S GREAT FIRES Ever since men have built their houses of wood, and have crowded their dwellings together in cities, there have been terrible conflagrations, destroying, in two or three days, property which has been gathered together at a great cost of time and labor. Thousands of people have been made homeless, and fortunes have been lost in a single night. As long ago as 65 A. D., when Nero was Emperor of Rome, more than half the city was destroyed by a great fire, and the people were obliged to flee to the hills for safety. Constantinople has suffered eleven conflagrations, by which more than 130,000 homes have been destroyed; and in Japan, where the houses are built of bamboo and paper, fires sweep through the streets with the rapidity of the wind, burning hundreds of the little low buildings in a single hour. In fact, these fires are of such common occurrence, and are so destructive, that the Japanese people keep their valuable possessions in fireproof storehouses in their own gardens, and they often have the frame and paper walls of a new house in this "godown," ready to put together as soon as the ashes of their former dwelling are cool enough not to set another fire. In September, 1666, the city of London was devastated by flames. The fire broke out in a baker's shop, and spread on all sides so rapidly that it could not be extinguished before two-thirds of the city had been destroyed. All the sky was illuminated by the flames, and the light could be seen for forty miles. More than a thousand houses were in flames at the same time. Night was as light as day, and the air was so hot that the people could do nothing but stand still and look on at their own ruin. In those days there was little fire-fighting apparatus, nothing at all to be compared with our modern conveniences; and the flames, fanned by a strong east wind, swept through the narrow streets, fairly eating up the houses, which were built entirely of wood. The ruins covered 436 acres; 400 streets were laid waste, 13,200 houses were destroyed, and 200,000 persons were made homeless. The first of the great conflagrations in our own country was the fire in Chicago in October, 1871. This fire was caused by a cow kicking over a lighted lantern in a barn; and, from this simple start, three and one-half square miles were laid waste, 200 persons were killed, 17,450 buildings were destroyed, and 98,500 persons were made homeless. The flames were fanned by a fierce gale, and spread with great rapidity, raging uncontrolled for two days and nights. In November, 1872, the city of Boston was visited by fire. The conflagration was confined almost wholly to the business district, and while only 800 buildings were destroyed, the loss amounted to $73,000,000, and hundreds of men lost their entire fortune. In April, 1906, San Francisco was devastated by the most terrible fire known to all history. The fire was preceded by earthquake shocks, and, with the falling walls and chimneys, fires were started in different sections of the city. The earthquake also caused the bursting of the water mains in the streets, so that it was impossible to hold the flames in check; and before they were at last extinguished the burned area was over three times greater than that of the Chicago fire, and ten times that of the Boston fire. This fire destroyed $350,000,000 worth of property, and over 300,000 persons were made homeless. The Baltimore fire, in 1904, burned over 140 acres, and $85,000,000 worth of property was lost. This great waste is a serious problem which confronts our country; but each one of us, by being careful, may do his share toward lessening the loss by fire. NEW YEAR'S EVE It was the last night of the year, and a happy little group was sitting around the supper table in the Hawleys' pleasant dining-room. There were Mr. and Mrs. Hawley and their two children,--Leland, who was a wide-awake boy of fourteen, and Rachel, who was two years younger. Their cousins, Lawrence and Dorothy, had come to spend several weeks with them. As they were all about the same age, the four children were having a merry time together. The Hawley homestead was in a little country town in New England; but Lawrence and Dorothy had always lived in the city of New Orleans and they knew nothing about winter and winter sports. You can imagine how much they enjoyed everything, especially the snow. They were all laughing and chatting merrily when suddenly Mr. Hawley rose and went to the window. "I hear sleigh-bells," he said. "A sleigh is driving into our yard." In a moment more a knock was heard at the door, and a note was handed to Mrs. Hawley telling her that her sister was very ill. This sister lived several miles away, but Mrs. Hawley felt that she must go to her at once, so her husband decided to harness his pair of bays and drive her over. "I am sorry to leave you, children," Mrs. Hawley said, as she tied on her bonnet. "Have just as good a time as you can, and I will trust you not to do anything that would displease me." "I will take Mother over and return as soon as possible," said Mr. Hawley, as he tucked his wife into the sleigh. "I shall try to be home before ten o'clock; but don't sit up for me. Be good children and take care of everything." "Perhaps my sister will be better and I can come home to-morrow," added Mrs. Hawley cheerfully. Then she kissed the children and bade them good-bye, and the horses dashed off down the road with a great jingling of bells. The girls looked a little sober when they went back into the big empty farmhouse, but Leland tried to cheer them up. "We'll have a jolly time keeping house," he said. "What's the first thing to be done?" "The dishes, of course," replied his sister; "there are always dishes to do, no matter what happens." The boys cleared the table, while Rachel and Dorothy washed and wiped the dishes, and set the table for breakfast. Then they brought in some wood and built a big fire in the fireplace. The flames went roaring up the chimney, and the children sat for a long time before the fire, watching the rings of sparks that twisted in and out on the soot-covered bricks. "Children going home from school," they called them, and the last one to burn out was the one to stay after school for a whipping. "Let's roast some chestnuts," Leland suggested, when there was a good bed of hot ashes, and he ran up in the attic to get a bagful that he had been saving for just such an occasion. It was fun to push the chestnuts into the fire with a long poker and then watch them pop out when they were roasted. Sometimes they flew across the room, or under the tables and chairs, and then there was a great hunt for them. "We might wish on the chestnuts," Rachel suggested. "If they pop out on the hearth, our wish will come true, but if they fly into the fire, it won't." "Oh, yes!" cried Lawrence; "that's just the thing to do. Girls first,--you begin, Rachel." "No, Dorothy is my guest," replied his cousin; "she must have the first turn." Dorothy poked her chestnut into the ashes. "I wish I might spend the whole year up here with you," she said; and when the nut popped right into her lap the other children joined hands and danced around her in a circle. Then it was Rachel's turn, and she wished for higher marks in school than she ever had before; but the chestnut jumped into the fire and blazed up merrily. "That's because your marks are good enough anyway," her brother told her. "What is your wish, Lawrence?" "I wish that I might go to London in an airship," Lawrence replied. "And I wish that I might go to the biggest circus in the world," added Leland, poking his chestnut in beside his cousin's. One of the nuts popped into the farthest corner of the hearth, and the other burned to a little black cinder; but the boys couldn't decide whose chestnut it was that flew away, so they couldn't tell which one was to have his wish. "I'll tell you something that is just as good as flying," said Leland. "Let's get out our bob-sled and go coasting. There's a moon to-night, and it is almost as light as day." "I don't think we ought to leave the house," objected Rachel. "Father and Mother are both away, you know, and they told us to be careful." "Oh, don't be a goose!" her brother replied. "The house can take care of itself." "We ought to put out all the lamps then, and cover the fire with ashes," said thoughtful Rachel. "Nonsense!" exclaimed Leland. "We won't be gone long. The fire is all right. There is nothing left but the back-log, and that will not burn much longer." "I'm going to put out the lamps any way," said his sister. "I feel sure that Mother never leaves them lighted when there is no one in the house." "Well, hurry up then," urged Leland. "You girls bundle up well, and Lawrence and I will get out the sled." In a few minutes the boys came running up to the door with the sled, and as soon as the girls were well tucked in, they took hold of the rope and pranced off like wild horses. There was a full moon, and they could see the road perfectly. The air was crisp and clear, and the snow shone and sparkled like diamonds. "It seems like a winter fairyland," said Dorothy. "Let's keep watch for the fairies. They ought to come trooping across the fields dressed in pretty white furs, and dance under the trees to the music of sleigh-bells." The sled seemed to fairly fly over the snow, and when they came to the top of the long hill, the boys jumped on and they all went coasting down, with shouts of laughter. Up and down, up and down they went; and such fun as they did have! Of course they stayed out much longer than they meant to; but at last Rachel said, "It must be getting late. Father was coming home at ten, and he will wonder what has become of us." The boys trotted home again more slowly, and as they came in sight of the house they saw that Mr. Hawley had already arrived before them. The rooms downstairs were brightly lighted, and when they passed the living-room windows they saw him hurrying to and fro as if he were busy about some work. "Here we are, Father," called Leland. "We've been out coasting." "And we've had such a good time!" added Dorothy. Then, as she entered the living-room, she exclaimed in amazement: "What is the matter, Uncle Henry? What have you been doing in here?" Her uncle crossed the room and opened the windows. Then he took off his hat and overcoat, and wiped great beads of perspiration from his face, while the children stood in the doorway looking around at the disordered room. "When I came home the house was on fire," he answered, "and I've had a pretty busy time for the last ten minutes. You children must have left a log burning on the hearth, and a spark flew out and set the rug on fire. Then the table and one of the chairs caught fire from the rug, and if I hadn't come home just when I did, we might not have had any home by this time." "It was my fault, Father," spoke up Leland. "Rachel wanted to bury the log in the ashes; but I told her it wouldn't do any harm to leave it burning." "I suppose it was partly my fault, too," said Mr. Hawley. "I've always intended to buy a wire screen for this fireplace. It is never safe to go out of the room and leave an open fire. When we go to town to-morrow to buy a new rug, we will buy a screen and a fender, too." "And the next time we light a fire on the hearth," added Lawrence, "we'll stay at home and take care of it, even if it is a moonlight night and we do want to go coasting." _Why did Lawrence and Dorothy enjoy the New England winter?_ _What did the children do after Mr. and Mrs. Hawley went away?_ _Why did Rachel put out the lights before leaving the house?_ _What accident happened as a result of leaving a burning log in the fireplace?_ _How could this accident have been prevented?_ It is never safe to have an open fire in a fireplace unless it is protected with a wire screen. Sparks often fly from the burning wood and set fire to rugs, draperies, and clothing, or sometimes a blazing log rolls out on to the floor. If it is necessary to leave the fire before it is entirely burned out, the logs may be taken from the andirons and buried in the ashes. This should always be done before the fire is left for the night, as a change of wind might cause a smouldering log to become a dangerous firebrand. CHRISTMAS CANDLES It was Christmas Eve,--the happiest, merriest time in all the year,--and no one need look at a calendar to know it. The shop windows were full of gifts and toys of every description, and in some of the larger shops jolly old Santa Claus himself was waiting to shake hands with the boys, or pat the curly heads of the little girls. Crowds of people were hurrying to and fro on the streets, their arms filled with packages of all shapes and sizes. Here was a man carrying a doll carriage, and a woman with a tiny wheelbarrow. There was a girl with a pair of snowshoes, and a boy with a Christmas-tree over his shoulder; but no matter how heavy were the bundles, or how crowded the streets, everyone seemed happy, and "Merry Christmas!" "Merry Christmas to you!" was heard on every side in friendly greeting. Just enough snow had fallen to bring out the sleighs, and the jingling sleigh-bells added their merry music to the Christmas gayety. The air was clear and crisp, and beyond the city streets, with their glare of electricity, the stars shone with a clear light, just as the Star of the East shone so many centuries ago upon the little Babe of Bethlehem. Yes, Christmas was everywhere. It shone from the stars, and from the happy faces of the children; and it made the whole world glad with the gladness of giving. In the little town of Lindale, just as in all the other towns and cities, there was the greatest excitement. The houses were brightly lighted, people were hurrying to and fro in the streets, doors were carefully opened and closed, stockings were hung beside the chimneys, and Christmas trees were decorated with tinsel and candles and loaded with gifts for young and old. But in the big brick church in the center of the town was the best Christmas tree of all. It stood on the floor and held its head up to the very ceiling, where a star gleamed with a golden light like the brightest star in the sky. The branches were covered with frost that sparkled like diamonds, and under the trees were heaped big snowbanks of white cotton. Ropes of tinsel and strings of popcorn were twined in and out in long festoons, and tiny Christmas candles were set everywhere among the branches. Big dolls and little dolls peeped out through the green leaves, and here and there were Teddy bears, white rabbits, curly-haired puppies, woolly lambs, parrots on their perches, and canaries in tiny cages,--all toys, of course, but toys so wonderfully made that they looked as if they were really and truly alive. [Illustration: Photograph by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. Fire Drill for the Firemen] Piled high on the banks of snow were the Christmas gifts, big packages and little ones, all in white paper tied with red and green ribbons; and when the candles were lighted the whole tree looked as if it had been brought from fairyland and set down here to make the children happy. This tree, with all its gifts and decorations, had been arranged by the pupils and teachers of the Sunday-school for the little children of the Lindale Mission. For two or three months these "Willing Helpers," as they called themselves, had devoted all their spare minutes to getting everything ready. They had contributed toys and games, they had earned the money for some of the gifts, they had brought tinsel and gilded nuts from home, they had strung the popcorn, and, best of all, they had spent two happy evenings decorating the tree and tying up the packages. Now, at last, it was Christmas Eve. At seven o'clock the church bells began to peal out their merriest welcome, and from all the houses came boys and girls with their fathers and mothers, eager to enjoy the pleasure of making others happy. The little children of the Mission school were gathered in the chapel, and when everything was ready the doors were thrown wide open and they came marching in to see the tree. As they moved slowly up the long aisle toward their seats in the front of the church, they sang a Christmas carol, keeping time with their marching; and their childish voices made the very rafters ring with joy. The church bells pealed out once more, and a little boy at the head of the procession jingled some sleigh-bells, while every one joined in the chorus of the song:-- "Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas bells, Oh! sweetly, sweetly, chime; Let your happy voices on the breezes swell, This merry, merry Christmas time." The Sunday-school pupils answered with another carol, and the superintendent made a little speech of welcome. Then, when the children were all on tiptoe with excitement, there was a loud jangling of bells in the street, a stamping of feet at the door, and in came Santa Claus himself, with his great fur coat, his long white beard, and a heavy pack on his back. Behind him came six pages, dressed in red and white, with little packs on their backs. They ran up and down the aisles, giving bags of candy to the children, and all the while the Christmas candles burned lower and lower, the tiny flames danced and flickered, the hat wax melted and dripped from bough to bough. At last the superintendent of the Sunday-school began giving out the presents, and some of the teachers went to help him. Santa Claus himself called out the names, and the children ran up to receive their gifts from his hands. In the midst of all this joy and happiness everyone forgot the lighted candles, until suddenly some one screamed, "Fire, fire! The tree is on fire!" Then what a commotion there was! Men ran forward to put out the blaze, but it was so high up that no one could reach it. Two or three boys hurried down to the cellar for the step-ladder, several men ran to get pails of water, women snatched up their little children and took them into the street, hatless and coatless, while the teachers gathered up the few remaining gifts and tried to calm their frightened pupils. In less time than it takes to tell it, the boys came rushing upstairs with a step-ladder, men came back with buckets of water, and Santa Claus climbed up to put out the fire which was running swiftly from one branch to another. In his hurry he knocked off another candle, it dropped into the white cotton and set the snowbanks blazing; but there were plenty of men to put out the flames before they could do any damage. When the fire was all out, and the children had gone home, and were tucked safely in their little beds, the tree was left standing alone in the dark church. But it no longer looked as if it had come from fairyland. All the upper branches were burned off, wet strings of tinsel and popcorn drooped from the ends of the boughs, the gold star was black with smoke, and the snowbanks seemed to have suffered from a January thaw. The next morning some of the fathers and mothers came to clear away the remains of the festivity and its disaster, and the children came to help them. "We'll never have another Christmas-tree as long as we live," declared one of the older girls. "Oh, yes, we will," her brother told her. "We'll have one next year for the Mission children; but we shall know better than to have it lighted with candles." "Or, if we do use candles," added one of the teachers, "we'll have six boys to watch them every minute, and we will put out every one before we distribute a single gift." "That's right," said a voice that sounded very much like that of Santa Claus; "this fire has taught us a good lesson, but it came very near spoiling all our happiness. No one can be too careful of fire where there are so many little children. One child's life is worth more than all the Christmas candles in the world." _What is the happiest day of the year for children?_ _When is Christmas Day?_ _What do you do on Christmas Eve?_ _Have you ever had a Christmas tree?_ _How was it decorated?_ _Why is it dangerous to light it with candles?_ _Why is it dangerous to use cotton to represent frost and snow?_ _How was this fire caused?_ _How could it have been avoided?_ Christmas candles cause many fires. A Christmas tree should be fastened firmly so that it cannot be upset. It should not be decorated with paper, cotton, or any other inflammable material. Cotton should not be used to represent frost or snow, as it catches fire easily. If the snow effect is desired, asbestos or mineral wool can be used with safety. The candles should be set upright in the holders, and should be placed so that they cannot set fire to the branches above. They should never be lighted by children. They should be watched constantly, and should be extinguished before the gifts are distributed, as they sometimes set fire to clothing. This more frequently happens if the person who distributes the gifts is dressed as Santa Claus, as his long beard and the cotton fun on his red coat and cap are especially inflammable. Electricity is a safer method of lighting a Christmas tree. Wiring is now especially prepared which can be easily applied to the tree, and connected to the chandelier like an ordinary electric lamp. Bulbs in the shapes of birds, animals, clowns, etc., make the tree very attractive. WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF FIRE In case of fire it is necessary above all things to "_keep cool_." Try not to get excited, and so waste precious moments in running about to no purpose. Act quickly, but keep your mind on what you are doing. If it is only a little blaze, throw water on the thing that is burning, try to smother the flames with a heavy rug, or beat them out with a wet broom. If oil is burning, never pour on water, as this only spreads the oil and makes matters worse. For an oil fire use sand, earth from flower-pots, or big panfuls of flour. If the fire is well started and you see at once that you cannot put it out alone, call for help by shouting "Fire!" at the door or window where some one will be likely to hear you. Then summon the fire department. The best way to do this is to run to the nearest fire-alarm box, break the glass which will release the key, then unlock the door and pull down the hook. This rings the alarm at the engine-house. Everyone should know the location of the nearest box, and the way to ring the alarm. If you can send some one else to ring the alarm, telephone to the nearest fire station. The number of this station should always hang in a conspicuous place near your telephone. If there is no fire alarm system, and you have no telephone, shout "Fire!" and arouse the neighbors. If you leave the house to summon help, be sure to _close the door_. Fresh air will make the flames burn faster, and spread more rapidly. If the fire is in one room, try to keep it there by closing the doors and windows. If it is in a closet, shut the door until you can get help. In this way you may save the whole house from burning. After you have given the alarm try to save what you can. Valuable papers should be taken care of first; then jewelry, silverware, heirlooms, and anything you especially treasure. Think about what you are doing. _Don't waste time_ trying to save a looking-glass or clock, when you might put a handful of expensive silverware in your pocket. If you are awakened in the night by the smell of smoke or the crackling of fire, do not stop to dress. Wrap yourself in a blanket or quilt, and waken everyone in the house, remembering especially little children and sick or aged people. Then, after you have called the fire department, find out where the fire is and what it is best to do. If the fire is on the lower floor, do not go upstairs, as you might be unable to come down again. If the halls are filled with smoke, you can pass through them more easily by crawling on your hands and knees, for the smoke and hot air rise toward the ceiling, and the air is cooler and purer near the floor. If it is necessary for you to go into a room that is filled with dense smoke, tie a wet towel or sponge over your nose and mouth. If you have no time to do this, hold a heavy woollen cloth over the lower part of your face, or, at least, turn up your coat collar. If the lower part of the house is on fire, and you cannot go down the stairs, prepare to escape through the window, but _do not jump out_ recklessly. First of all, close the door to keep out the fire and smoke as long as possible. Then drop the mattresses and pillows to the ground so that they will form a break in case you should fall. If possible tie the sheets and blankets firmly together to make a rope. Fasten it securely to the bed-post, after you have drawn the bed close to the window, and then, when it is absolutely necessary, let yourself down, hand over hand. This is a dangerous method of escape, and should only be used as a last resort. Try to wait for the firemen to rescue you. If you see a fire anywhere, no matter how small, it is always best to give it immediate attention. If it is only a burning match or cigarette stump, step on it. If it is a fire in leaves, grass, or brush, put it out yourself or call for help. If it is in a house, notify the occupants at once, as they may not know anything about it. If the house is unoccupied, or the family is away from home, call the fire department. If a barn or stable is on fire, the first thing to do is to save the live stock. After the fire is all out, the next care should be to protect the house and its contents from further damage by fire or theft, and to carry articles which have been taken out to a place of safety. FIRST AID If a person's clothing is on fire, he should neither run nor scream, as running fans the flames, and screaming causes deep breathing, thereby drawing the intense heat into the lungs. To extinguish the flames wrap the person tightly in a rug, blanket, or heavy woollen coat, and roll him upon the floor. This method is much more effective than using water. Often a person whose clothing is on fire will resist any efforts to aid him, owing to his intense fright. When the flesh is burned or scalded, the first object of treatment is to relieve the pain. This is best accomplished by excluding all air from contact with the injured surface, either by dredging the part thickly with flour, if the skin is not broken, or by applying bandages. The best bandages are made of lint, cotton, or soft cloths moistened with water, or, better still, with water to which a little baking-soda has been added. [Illustration: Copyright 1906. Pillsbury Picture Co. Fire raging through the deserted streets in San Francisco] Be especially careful to remove all clothing covering a burn with the utmost care. Never try to pull it off. Cut it away, a tiny piece at a time, if necessary, so that the skin may not be broken and thus cause a more serious wound. Never hold a burn in front of the fire, as this only makes matters worse. As soon as the clothing has been removed apply the bandages, and if the burn is at all serious send for a physician. If the person receives serious burns, he may become faint or lose consciousness from the effect of the shock to the nervous system. If this occurs, lay him flat on the floor or couch; preserve all body heat by covering him with warm clothing; apply cool applications to his head and heat to his feet. ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION If a person is overcome by inhaling smoke, it may be necessary to resort to artificial respiration. This is done as follows: [Illustration: FIG. 1.] Lay the person to be treated flat on his back. Then kneel behind his head, grasp both arms near the elbow, and move them horizontally, carrying them away from the body and describing a semicircle until the hands meet above the head, as in Fig. 1. When this position has been reached, give the arms a steady pull for two seconds. By doing this the lungs are filled with air, because the ribs are drawn upward, thereby increasing the capacity of the chest. The next step is to return the arms to the first position alongside the chest, as in Fig. 2, making considerable pressure against the lower ribs, and thereby forcing the impure air out of the lungs. [Illustration: FIG. 2.] This whole act should occupy three or four seconds and be repeated sixteen times per minute. Do not abandon this work until it is definitely certain that the heart has ceased to beat. TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: Text in italics is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been retained from the original. 
26440	----	[Illustration: Jas. Braidwood] FIRE PREVENTION AND FIRE EXTINCTION. BY JAMES BRAIDWOOD, FIRST SUPERINTENDENT OF THE LONDON FIRE-BRIGADE, AND ASSOCIATE OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. INCLUDING FIRE-PROOF STRUCTURES, FIRE-PROOF SAFES, PUBLIC FIRE BRIGADES, PRIVATE MEANS FOR SUPPRESSING FIRES, FIRE-ENGINES, FIRE ANNIHILATORS, PORTABLE FIRE-ESCAPES, WATER SUPPLY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS, MEMOIR, AND PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR. LONDON: BELL AND DALDY, 186, FLEET STREET. 1866. [_The right of Translation is reserved._] CONTENTS. MEMOIR. PAGE Introductory, Early Fires, Fire Engines, and Fire Brigades 5 Mr. Braidwood's birth and education 7 Great Fire of Edinburgh, and appointment as head of Brigade 8 Award of Silver Medal of Society of Arts, London; publication of work on Fire Engines 11 Formation of London Fire Brigade; appointment as Superintendent 13 Testimonials received upon leaving Edinburgh 14 London residence and routine of duty 16 Valuable services of the Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire 17 Statistics of Fires; improvement of Fire Engines 18 Introduction of ladders, hose reel, and hand pump 19 Floating Fire Engines, hand worked and steam; Land Steam Fire Engine 20 Inspection of Government Dockyards and Public Buildings; establishment of a standard hose coupling 21 Admitted an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers; award of Telford Medal; endeavours to restrain the erection of immoderate-sized warehouses 22 His opinion as to the inadequacy of London Fire Brigade; Great Tooley Street Fire 23 Death of Mr. Braidwood 24 Public funeral 25 Public and private character 28 World-wide esteem in which he was held 30 Poem--A True Hero 32 FIRE PREVENTION, INCLUDING FIREPROOF STRUCTURES--CAUSES OF FIRES. Inattention in the use of fires and lights 33 Advantages of a legal inquiry into the cause of Fires 37 Improper construction of buildings 37 Acts of Parliament for buildings in London 39 Results of improper construction of warehouses in Liverpool 41 Arrangements for the safety of the audience in theatres 42 Danger from furnaces and close fires 43 Danger from pipes conveying products of combustion 44 Spontaneous ignition; use of gas 45 Incendiarism; monomania 46 FIREPROOF STRUCTURES. What is fireproof construction 47 Use of cast and wrought-iron 49 Mr. Fairbairn's experiments 50 Danger to life from use of cast-iron columns 54 Report on warehouses 55 Covering timber with iron 56 Fireproof dwelling-houses 57 Fireproof safes 58 FIRE EXTINCTION, INCLUDING FIRE BRIGADES, FIRE ENGINES, AND WATER SUPPLY--FIRE BRIGADES. Individual exertions for Fire Extinction 59 Fire Brigades on the Continent of Europe, in England, in America 66 Necessity for the control of arrangements by one individual 67 Proposal for a national system 68 Fire Engines at noblemen's and gentlemen's residences 70 Training and discipline of Firemen 71 General instructions for Firemen, and for the use of Fire Engines 72 Necessity for the water striking the burning materials 74 Inventions for elevating branch pipes considered 76 LONDON FIRE BRIGADE. General description of men and engines 79 Division of London into districts 81 General regulations 82 Conditions of entrance into the establishment 83 Outline of general duty 85 Duties of Superintendent 88 " Foremen 90 " Engineers 93 " Sub-Engineers and Firemen 94 EDINBURGH FIRE BRIGADE. Description of men selected 96 Mode of communicating with Firemen at a Fire 97 Dress and drill of Firemen 99 Gymnastic exercises 104 General regulations 106 Duties of Police 107 " Superintendent of Brigade 109 " Head Enginemen 110 " Firemen, and High Constables 111 " Magistrates, and Gas-Light Companies 113 Special regulations for Firemen 114 Means of escape from Fire 118 FIRE ENGINES. The application of manual power 123 Engines used by the British Government 124 Description of Brigade Fire Engine 126 Hand Pump; keeping Fire Engines in order 130 Selection of Engine House 132 Apparatus provided with London Brigade Engine 133 Leather hose 134 Hose couplings 140 Suction pipes 143 Jet pipes, proper shape 145 Fire annihilator 149 WATER SUPPLY. By pressure, from surface of ground, and by sunk tanks 150 Experiments with jets under a constant pressure 153 Fire plug used in London 155 Canvas cistern and stand-cock used with fire plug 156 Double fire-cock used in the Government Dockyards 158 Double hollow key fire-cock used in the British Museum 159 Supply by Water Companies in London 162 Supplying Fire Engines from fire-cocks, &c. 163 APPENDIX. Steam Fire Engines, progress in construction 166 Trials before the Jury of the International Exhibition, 1862 168 Trials at the International Competition, London, 1863 173 Steam Fire Engines in use by Metropolitan Brigade, May, 1866 181 Act of Parliament for Metropolitan Fire Brigade 182 Establishment of Metropolitan Fire Brigade 197 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Portrait of Mr. Braidwood on steel by Jeens, from a photograph by Williams Frontispiece. Longitudinal section of Brigade Fire Engine 124 Transverse section of ditto 125 Old coupling for hose 140 New ditto, ditto 141 Branch and jet pipe 145 Opening in sunk tank for suction pipe 151 Fire plug used in London 155 Fire plug with canvas cistern 156 Fire plug with stand-cock 157 Single fire-cock 158 Double fire-cock used at dockyards 158 Double fire-cock used at British Museum 159 EDITOR'S PREFACE. The appearance at the beginning of last year, in the Annual Report of the Institution of Civil Engineers for 1861 and 1862, of a short memoir of Mr. Braidwood, suggested the publication of a more extended account of the life of the late head of the London Fire Brigade, combined with his opinions upon the subject of his profession. These opinions are comprised in a work on "Fire Engines, and the Training of Firemen," published in Edinburgh in 1830; two papers upon cognate subjects read before the Institution of Civil Engineers, two similar papers read before the Society of Arts, and in a variety of reports upon public buildings, warehouses, &c. While regretting the great loss that the public has sustained, in being deprived by Mr. Braidwood's sudden death of a complete record of his long and varied London experience, it has been considered advisable to republish the above materials arranged in a systematic form, omitting only such parts as the Author's more matured experience rendered desirable, but confining the whole to his own words. LONDON, _June, 1866._ AUTHOR'S PREFACE _To his work "On the Construction of Fire-Engines and Apparatus; the Training of Firemen; and the Method of Proceeding in cases of Fire," published in Edinburgh, in 1830._ Not having been able to find any work on Fire-Engines in the English language, I have been led to publish the following remarks, in the hope of inducing others to give further information on the subject. For the style of the work I make no apology; and as I presume no one will read it except for the purpose of gaining information, my aim will be obtained if I shall have succeeded in imparting it, or in directing the public attention to the advantage which may be derived from the systematic training of Firemen. MEMOIR OF JAMES BRAIDWOOD. The history of mankind, from the earliest times, has been one of alternate peace and war with fire. The immeasurable value of its obedience, and the fearful consequences of its insubordination, have, in all ages, made its due subjection one of the most important conditions of even human existence itself. As camps and trading stations grew into populous cities, the dangers of fire were both multiplied and aggravated. Its ravages in the ancient capitals of the world are matters of history; and it is established that something like organization was extended to the means then employed for suppressing conflagrations. Even the fire-engine itself, in a practicable, although imperfect form, was described and illustrated by a sectional working drawing, by Hero of Alexandria, in a book written by him more than one hundred years before the Christian era. In its many translations, from the original Greek into Latin and into modern tongues, Hero's book, with its remarkable series of drawings, still occupies a place in the mechanical literature of our own time. But, although the construction of the fire-engine was thus known two thousand years ago, we have no actual evidence of its use until within the last two centuries; and within the whole compass of English history, at least, we know that nothing like discipline and organization, in the modern sense of the terms, were introduced into the management of fire apparatus until a time quite within the recollection of the middle-aged men of our own day. If there be anything apparently improbable in this fact, we need only recollect that many of the grandest triumphs of human genius, with which we are already so familiar, are not yet forty years old. The modern system of English fire brigades belongs wholly to the period of railways, steam navigation, and electric telegraphs, and it owes nearly all to the genius and disciplined heroism of a single individual, James Braidwood, who, but little more than four years ago, fell--as nobly for himself as sadly for others--at his chosen post of duty. What, when he first gave his energies--indeed, his whole heart to it, was but the rough and unskilful employment of the fireman, became under Mr. Braidwood's command and his infusing spirit of order and intelligence, as distinguished from reckless daring, a noble pursuit, almost rising in dignity to a profession, and indeed acknowledged as such by many, and significantly, although indirectly, by Royalty itself. Until the year 1833, not only the parish engines of the metropolis, numbering, as they did, about three hundred, but the engines also of the Fire Insurance Companies, were comparatively inefficient and often out of order, while they were also under the most diverse, if not irresponsible management. There were no really trained firemen, and those who controlled and worked the engines were oftener in antagonism with each other than acting in concert. The parish engines were in the care of the beadles, and in one case a beadle's widow, Mrs. Smith, for some years commanded one of the city engines. The energies of each band of firemen were commonly reserved for the protection of property only in which their own insurance company or parish was immediately interested. As a rule, whatever water was thrown upon a burning building was dashed against the walls, windows, and roof from the outside only, very little if any really reaching the actual seat of the fire within. As a consequence, fires, which are now quickly "got under," were then left to burn themselves out, the spreading of the fire being prevented either by deluging the contiguous buildings with water, or by pulling them down altogether. James Braidwood was born in Edinburgh in the year 1800. His father was a well-known upholsterer and builder, who appears to have chosen for his son the profession of a surveyor. To this end he was entered at the High School, then under the rectorship of Mr. (afterwards Professor) Pillans, and here, and subsequently under private masters, the youth received a sound education in the branches most appropriate to his intended pursuit in life. He was for some time engaged in his father's business, and thereby gained an amount of practical knowledge, which was of, perhaps, as much service to him in his subsequent career as a fireman, as it would have been had he adopted the profession originally chosen for him. Young Braidwood was an apt student, a fact, perhaps, sufficiently attested afterwards by his successful authorship, at the age of thirty, of the only English work then extant upon the fire-engine and its proper management. He read much, wrote well, was a good draughtsman, and had a sound knowledge of mechanics. But whether his powers required wider scope than a surveyor's practice could offer, or whether, more than forty years ago, and in Edinburgh, the chances of professional success were very much less than now, James Braidwood soon turned his mind to what became the great work of his life. He was becoming known for activity and a high order of personal courage, and there were those in place and power who saw in him the other elements of character which go to make a successful leader of men. He was soon, and when but twenty-three years of age, made the superintendent of the Edinburgh fire engines, and he almost as soon began to reform their inefficient and vicious system of management. He had held his post but three weeks, however, when the series of fires broke forth which still bear the name of the Great Fire of Edinburgh. Many of the old and lofty houses in the High Street were destroyed, between four and five hundred families were made houseless, ten persons were either killed outright or fatally injured, and for several days nearly the whole of the High Street, if not the larger part of the old town, was threatened with destruction. Never were the consequences of want of organization more conspicuous. There was no real command, for there were none to obey; and while those who might have stopped the flames at the outset, wasted their own energies in random efforts, or, perhaps, fell to quarrelling among themselves, the fearful devastation rolled on. The occasion was sufficient to induce the authorities and insurance companies to listen to and profit by Mr. Braidwood's recommendations. They consented to bear in common the expenses necessary to organize and maintain an efficient brigade. This was soon formed of picked men, who, although daily engaged in their former ordinary occupations, were regularly inspected, trained, and exercised early in one morning of every week. Fires were becoming more and more numerous year by year; but the influence of the improved system was soon felt. The men were taught to improve to the utmost the first few minutes after an alarm was given, and by constant emulation and discipline, a spirit of wonderful readiness was cultivated in them. They were trained to seek out and follow up the source of a fire before it had had time to spread, and to throw the water from the engines directly upon it, instead of wastefully, if not injuriously about. The result was, that while out of forty-eight fires which happened in the first year of the history of the brigade, eleven proved total losses, and twelve "considerable" losses, the number of total losses decreased rapidly, year by year, while the whole number of "calls" was almost as rapidly increasing. Thus in the second year of the brigade there were eighty "calls," of which seven were total, and eighteen considerable losses. In the next three years, with from ninety-four to one hundred and ninety-four "calls" yearly, there was but one total loss in each year, and but from nine to eighteen "considerable" losses. Mr. Braidwood was meanwhile improving the fire-escapes, and when new engines were added to the force, he procured better workmanship. By his personal influence, also, more than by the mere advantage of official position, Mr. Braidwood secured the constant co-operation of the police in giving the earliest alarms of fire, and in facilitating the labours of the firemen when actually on duty. As has just been shown, the results of method, applied skill, and of a personal devotion cultivated under the high impulse of immediate public observation and approval, were soon manifest. To this vast improvement the _Edinburgh Mercury_, as representing the opinion of the citizens of the Scottish capital, bore public testimony in its issue of August 14, 1828, when the Fire Brigade of that city had been tested by nearly five years of constant trial, and with conspicuous success. Referring to the excellent organization of the establishment, it was remarked that there were then but few, if any, serious fires in Edinburgh, for when a fire broke out--and the alarms were as frequent as ever--it was speedily checked. Said the writer:-- "Not only is the apparatus constructed on the best possible principles, but the whole system of operations has been changed. The public, however, do not see the same bustle, or hear the same noise as formerly; and hence they seem erroneously to conclude that there is nothing done. The fact is, the spectator sees the preparation for action made, but he sees no more. Where the strength of the men and the supply of water used to be wasted, by being thrown against windows, walls, and roofs, the firemen now seek out the spot where the danger lies, and creeping on hands and feet into a chamber full of flame, or smoke, often at the hazard of suffocation, discover the exact seat of danger; and, by bringing the water in contact with it, obtain immediate mastery over the powerful element with which they have to contend. In this daring and dangerous work men have occasionally fainted from heat, or dropped down from want of respiration, in which cases the next person at hand is always ready to assist his companion, and to release him from his service of danger." In a fire which happened while Mr. Braidwood was at the head of the Edinburgh Brigade, he won great admiration by bringing out from the burning building a quantity of gunpowder which was known to be stored there. He would not ask any of his men to undertake this dangerous feat, but, amidst the breathless suspense of thousands of spectators, he coolly searched for and safely carried out, first one, and then a second, cask of this explosive material. Had the fire reached the powder, it was known that the worst consequences of the conflagration would have been immensely increased. The fame of the Edinburgh Brigade rapidly spread throughout the kingdom, and it gradually became regarded as a model to which all other organizations for the suppression of fires would ultimately be made to conform. As a response to constant inquiries from a distance, Mr. Braidwood, in 1829, forwarded to the Society of Arts, London, a description of his chain-ladder fire-escape. For this invaluable apparatus, which had already effected a considerable saving of life, the Society's Silver Medal was awarded, and, accompanying the award, the Council of the Society extended an invitation to the author to "give a complete account of his mode of drilling firemen, and combining the use of fire-escapes with the ordinary fire-engine service." Responding to this invitation, Mr. Braidwood in the following year published his work "On the Construction of Fire-Engines and Apparatus, the Training of Firemen, and the Method of Proceeding in Cases of Fire." From this work, which may still be regarded as an authority, extensive extracts have been made in the subsequent chapters of the present volume, and it need not, therefore, be further referred to here than to say that it formed a thoroughly original account of an original system, and that its illustrations, which were especially clear, were drawn by the author's own hand. This work attracted much attention from municipal bodies and insurance companies throughout the kingdom, and more than one official deputation visited Edinburgh to learn from Mr. Braidwood himself the details of a system which was already working such important results. In London, especially, three West India warehouses had been burnt in the year 1829, with a loss of 300,000_l._; and with the extending use of gas, the increasing frequency of fires, and the conspicuous inefficiency of the parish engines, and the want of unity of action among the insurance companies, it was felt that what had answered so well in Edinburgh would prove still more valuable in the metropolis. The general estimation in which Mr. Braidwood's services were then held may be considered as expressed in the following, among other contemporary reviews of his book:-- "The Edinburgh Fire-engine Establishment is now all but perfect. A unity of system has been accomplished, and a corps of firemen mustered, who, in point of physical vigour and moral intrepidity, are all entitled to be denominated chosen men. At the head of this band stands Mr. Braidwood, an individual who has on several occasions given abundant evidence of promptitude in extremity, and a noble contempt of personal danger, and whose enthusiasm, in what we may call his profession, could not have been more strikingly exemplified than by his illustrating it in the manner we now see before us. It is the only book we are acquainted with that treats of the systematic training of firemen; and from the perspicuity of its details, it must necessarily become the manual of all such institutions, and ought to find a place in every insurance office in the United Kingdom." It had been from time to time attempted to bring the fire apparatus of the London Insurance Companies under a single management; but it was nearly ten years after the establishment of the Edinburgh Fire Brigade, and only when Mr. Braidwood himself had been invited to come to London, that this was at last effected. As for the parish engines, they were wholly neglected under this arrangement, and, indeed, a great number of them had been already allowed to fall into disuse, as far as could be permitted without incurring the penalties of the Statutes of 1774. On the 1st January, 1833, at the instance of Mr. Ford, of the Sun Fire-office, eight of the insurance companies formed an association of fire-engines and firemen, each company withholding its own distinctive name and badges from the united force. This was known as the London Fire-engine Establishment. It was supported by the companies in common, each in proportion to the premiums received from its business in London, a minimum rate being fixed. Each company contributing to the support of the establishment nominated one member of the committee of management. This association existed for thirty-three years, when on the 1st of January, 1866, the Metropolitan Board of Works took charge of the fire-engines and the general fire establishment of the metropolis. Mr. Braidwood took the command of the London Brigade thus formed at the onset. The Edinburgh Fire-engine Committee, on accepting his resignation, presented him with a gold watch, and a vote of thanks, "for the singularly indefatigable manner in which he had discharged the duties of his important office, not merely by his extraordinary exertions on occasions of emergency, but for the care and attention he had bestowed on the training of the firemen, whereby the establishment had been brought to its present high state of efficiency." He had previously received from the men under him a handsome silver cup, bearing the following inscription:--"Presented to Mr. James Braidwood, by the City of Edinburgh Firemen, as a token of their admiration of him as their leader, and of deep respect for him as a gentleman." As in Edinburgh, the London Fire Brigade under Mr. Braidwood's superintendence became a new force, and in every respect a remarkable organization. Where the inefficiency of the old firemen could not at once be made to yield to discipline, they were pensioned off; and within a short time a select band of active, hardy, and thoroughly trained men was formed. In 1834, the second year of Mr. Braidwood's superintendence, the Houses of Parliament were burnt; and a most destructive fire occurred also at Mile-end. The first-named fire created general consternation, and there are many persons who can still recollect that also at Mile-end. These great fires stimulated Mr. Braidwood to increased exertions, and the result was soon visible in the lessened proportion of totally destroyed premises to the whole number of fires. The brigade had, of course, no power of prevention, and alarms of fire were becoming more numerous than ever. The use of friction matches and of gas was increasing enormously; manufactures, and the steam-engines and machinery for conducting them, were being rapidly multiplied; and with the vast progress making in the production of cotton goods, the use of cotton curtains and bed-furniture was becoming common in dwellings forming a large proportion of the metropolis, but in which, not long before, such articles were either regarded as luxuries or were altogether unknown. The total number of fires attended by the brigade in the year 1833, exclusive of chimneys on fire, was 458, while in 1851 the number had risen to 928; and although London had been growing all this time, it had not doubled in size to correspond with the increased number of fires. But while the total yearly number of fires, since the formation of the brigade, has shown a large and hardly interrupted increase, the number of cases of total destruction has almost as steadily diminished. Thus, "totally destroyed" was reported of 31 fires in the year 1833, whereas in 1839 there were but 17 cases, and the average for twenty-one years, from 1833 to 1853 inclusive, was but 25-1/2 yearly, while at the present time, with all the vast growth of London, the average, under the continuance of Mr. Braidwood's system, is hardly if at all greater. Mr. Braidwood from the first exhibited excellent judgment in his choice of men to serve under him. He chose sailors, as a rule, as being accustomed to obedience, and to irregular and prolonged duty, while also they were especially hardy and active; and where there was especial danger which must be met, he was always ready to lead, and his men had soon learned to confide in his quick and sound judgment in emergency, knowing that he would never permit them to incur needless risk. His own iron constitution, and his habits of constant vigilance, served as a high standard and incentive to those about him; and thus it was, by selection, discipline, and example, resting upon a foundation of even paternal kindness, that the men of the London Fire Brigade became conspicuous for their courage, energy, hardihood, and unalterable devotion to duty. The brigade, too, was most popular with the public, and could always count upon any necessary assistance in their labours. The system of rewards given to whoever was the first to bring a call of fire, the liberal gratuity to the policeman who first reached the burning premises, there preventing undue confusion, and by keeping the street-door closed, shutting off a strong draught of air from the flames, and the handsome pay to the ready throng of strong-armed men who worked the engines, secured every co-operation from the public, beyond that naturally springing from a general admiration of so brave and well-trained a body of men. Mr. Braidwood's residence was at the principal station of the Fire-engine Establishment in Watling-street. To this station came all alarms of fire. He attended in person all calls from leading thoroughfares, public buildings, or localities where a serious conflagration might be expected. In the night a call was announced to him through a speaking-tube reaching to his bedside. The gas in his room was always burning, and he would quickly decide, from the known locality of the fire, and from the report given, whether he need go himself. In any case, his men were awake and quickly away. Rapidity in dressing, and in horseing and mounting the engines, was but a detail of daily drill. The moment the scene of action was reached, nothing was allowed to stand in the way of access to the actual seat of the fire, and nothing either in securing a supply of water. The inmates of the premises, if any, were quickly got out, and wherever an unhappy creature was cut off by the flames, there were always one or more firemen ready, if necessary, to brave an apparently certain death in a heroic attempt at rescue--an attempt, indeed, which but seldom failed. It is but just to say here that the firemen were always nobly seconded, if not indeed anticipated, in these attempts by the officers and men of the Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire--a body which has long rendered priceless services to humanity under most appalling circumstances. The men of the Fire Brigade were taught to prevent, as much as possible, the access of air to the burning materials. What the open door of the ash pit is to the furnace of a steam-boiler the open street door is to the house on fire. In both cases the door gives vital air to the flames. The men of the Brigade were trained to pursue a fire, not yet under full headway, up-stairs and down, in at windows and out through the roof, anywhere, so it could be reached directly by the water from the engines. They were made to regard it as worse than a waste to throw even a gallon of water upon a dead wall or upon a surface of slate or plaster, so long as by any means the branch pipe could be got to bear upon the seat of the fire itself. The statistics of the operations of the London Fire-engine Establishment from 1833 to the present time, show with what success the system originated and so admirably carried out by Mr Braidwood has been pursued. Of the whole number of fires not one in fifty now proceeds to the extent of total destruction of the premises. Previous to the organization of the Fire-engine Establishment there were no official annual reports of the fires in the metropolis. No one person by himself was indeed in a position to know all of the fires that happened, any more than, but for Lloyds', could we know of all the wrecks which take place around and upon our coasts. It was impossible, under such a state of things, that either the value of insurance to the insured or its risk to the insurer could be rightly known. The general public could only know that, like fevers and certain other classes of disease, fires were always breaking out, but no one could know, even approximately, how great or how little was the real general risk. When, however, a fire establishment was formed, the engines were called to all fires, whether of insured or uninsured property. It was not now difficult to tabulate the number and localities of fires; but Mr. Braidwood went further, and extended his yearly tables to include the various causes of fires, and the classification of the premises, whether residences, shops, warehouses, manufactories, &c., where they occurred, the subdivision of these classes being extended to every variety of occupation and business. Even the hours at which the various fires broke out were carefully tabulated, and thus the particulars of London fires soon became an important branch of statistics, from which the operations of insurance have derived increased certainty, with greater economy to the insured. Although regarding the training and discipline of firemen as of the first importance in the organization of a fire brigade, Mr. Braidwood gave a large share of attention to the improvement of fire-engines and their kindred appliances. While in Edinburgh, where the steepness of many of the streets, and the roughness of the pavements in the older parts of the town prevented the rapid and easy movement of heavy engines, he recommended and adopted a lighter description, but in London he recognised the necessity for greater power. Mr. Tilley, then a fire-engine maker in the Blackfriars'-road, ably seconded his efforts, and at length the distinctive type known as the London Fire Brigade Engine was produced, and which, weighing about eighteen cwt. when ready for service, would throw eighty-eight gallons of water per minute, and, in short trials, as much as 120 gallons in the same time. This engine was mounted upon springs, and in strength and ease of working presented a marked improvement upon those which had preceded it. Its ordinary working complement of men was twenty-eight, and larger engines, upon the same general design, have since been made, to be worked by from forty-five to sixty men. The steam fire-engine has already, to a certain extent, superseded the brigade engine, but the latter is still likely, for some time at least, to be preferred for a large class of fires, both in London and in the provinces. Mr. Braidwood at an early date adopted the ordinary military scaling ladders to the purposes of his brigade, two being placed on each engine, and at his recommendation ladders were also placed on a two-wheeled carriage as a convenient fire-escape. He also induced the Admiralty, in 1841, to adopt hose-reels in the various dockyards, these implements having been previously in successful use in New York. In 1848 he was induced, in consequence of the large number of small fires to which his engines were called out, to adopt a small hand-pump as an auxiliary to the fire-engine. This could be rapidly brought to bear, and although worked by but one man, the value of a small quantity of water thrown directly upon the seat of a small fire was found to be greater than that of perhaps twenty times as much when thrown about in the ordinary manner. It was of great importance also in warehouses stored with valuable goods, to throw the least necessary quantity of water upon a fire. These hand-pumps still form an important part of the present apparatus of the brigade, and they have been widely adopted elsewhere. London, unlike Edinburgh, has a vast water-side property, always exposed to danger from fire. Almost immediately, therefore, after having taken the command of the London Brigade, Mr. Braidwood directed his attention to the construction of improved floating fire-engines, to be moored in the river, where they would be always available for the protection of wharf property. Two were constructed, one being a machine of great power, with pumps made to be worked by 120 men. These machines proved of great value. In 1852, shortly after the memorable fire at Humphrey's warehouses, he persuaded the Fire-engine Committee to allow one of these engines to be altered so as to work by steam, and in 1855 a large self-propelling floating steam fire-engine was made upon a novel construction, and which, having already rendered great service at fires on the river side, still ranks as the most powerful machine in the service of the brigade. With locomotive boilers and large double steam engines, this float can steam nine miles an hour, and when in place at a fire it can throw four streams of water, each from a jet-pipe of 1-1/2 inch in diameter, to a great distance. In the great fire of 1861, this floating engine was worked with but little intermission for upwards of a fortnight. In 1860 Mr. Braidwood obtained the sanction of the Fire-engine Committee for the introduction of a land steam fire-engine, and although he did not live to witness the present remarkable development of these machines, he was enabled to employ the first one in the brigade with much advantage. We may quote here from a brief but excellent memoir of Mr. Braidwood, which appeared in the annual report of the Institution of Civil Engineers for 1861: "As early as 1841, the Government began to profit by his experience, the Lords of the Admiralty having in that year consulted him on the subject of floating fire-engines for the various dockyards. These were eventually constructed from his designs and under his superintendence. In the following year he inspected all the dockyards, and reported fully on each, with regard to both floating and land fire-engines, the supply of water, the alterations of buildings to prevent spread of fire, and the proper care required in dangerous trades. From this time, although not holding any appointment, he acted as Government consulting engineer on all questions relating to fire prevention and extinction, and he advised from time to time the precautions to be taken for the protection of the royal palaces and various other public buildings. This position enabled him, not without a great deal of opposition, to induce the Government to adopt in all its departments a uniform size of hose-coupling. This is the one which he introduced in Edinburgh, and known as the London Fire Brigade coupling, is now in almost universal use; its application has been found comparatively of as much utility for fire-brigade purposes, as the adoption of the Whitworth gauges of screw-bolts for mechanical engineering. "Although so fully occupied, he never refused advice on professional matters to all who sought it. The various dock companies, public institutions, country fire brigades, private firms, &c., benefited largely by his experience. The numerous inquiries from foreign countries and the colonies with regard to the best means of extinguishing fires, also made great inroads on his time. In 1833 he became an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers, to which, in 1844, he contributed a valuable paper 'On the means of rendering large supplies of Water available in case of Fire, &c.,' for which he was awarded a Telford Medal; and in 1849 a second paper 'On Fire-Proof Buildings.' In 1856, a paper on 'Fires: the best means of preventing and arresting them; with a few words on Fire-Proof Structures,' was read by him before the Society of Arts. "He took great interest in the passing of Acts of Parliament for regulating buildings in the metropolis, was consulted by the framers of these Acts, and used his utmost influence to prevent the endangering a whole neighbourhood by the erection of monster warehouses for private profit. He strongly contended for the principle of dividing buildings by party-walls carried through the roof, and restricting these divisions to a moderate cubic content. Writing to Lord Seymour, Commissioner of Woods and Forests, on the 28th June, 1851, he said 'that no preparations for contending with such fires will give anything like the security that judicious arrangements in the size and construction of buildings will do.' The wise provisions introduced through his instrumentality into these Acts of Parliament were continually being evaded, and clusters of warehouses quickly rose which he saw would, if on fire, defy all his means of extinction. In a letter to Sir W. Molesworth, First Commissioner of Public Works, dated 10th February, 1854, on the subject of a proposed warehouse in Tooley-street, he wrote 'The whole building, if once fairly on fire in one floor, will become such a mass of fire that there is now no power in London capable of extinguishing it, or even of restraining its ravages on every side, and on three sides it will be surrounded by property of immense value.' How literally this was realized, and at what cost, was shown by the great warehouse fire in Tooley-street, on the 22nd June, 1861, at which Mr. Braidwood lost his life." The great fire at Cotton's Wharf; Tooley-street, broke out on Saturday, June 22nd, 1861, and continued to burn for more than a fortnight, consuming Scovell's, and other large warehouses, and, in all, upwards of two millions' worth of property. The fire is believed to have originated in the spontaneous combustion of hemp, of which upwards of 1000 tons were consumed, together with 3000 tons of sugar, 500 tons of saltpetre, nearly 5000 tons of rice, 18,000 bales of cotton, 10,000 casks of tallow, 1100 tons of jute, and an immense quantity of tea, spices, &c., besides many other descriptions of goods. Although discovered in broad daylight, and before the flames had made any considerable headway, the want of a ready supply of water, and the fact that the iron doors in the division walls between the several warehouses had been left open, taken in connexion with the extremely combustible nature of the materials, soon rendered hopeless all chance of saving the buildings and property. Mr. Braidwood was upon the spot very soon after the alarm had been given, and nearly the whole available force of the Fire-engine Establishment was summoned at his command. He appears to have at once foreseen that the fire would be one of no ordinary magnitude, and that the utmost that could be done would be to prevent its extending widely over adjoining property. The floating fire-engines had been got to bear upon the flames, and the men in charge of the branch pipes were, after two hours' work, already suffering greatly from the intense heat, when their chief went to them to give them a word of encouragement. Several minor explosions, as of casks of tallow or of oil, had been heard, but as it was understood that the saltpetre stored at the wharf was in buildings not yet alight, no alarm was then felt as to the walls falling in. At the moment, however, while Mr. Braidwood was discharging this his last act of kindness to his men, a loud report was heard, and the lofty wall behind him toppled and fell, burying him in the ruins. Those of his men who were near him had barely time to escape, and one person at his side, not a fireman, was overwhelmed with him. From the moment when the wall was seen to fall, it was known that whoever was beneath it had been instantly crushed to death. It is needless, and it would, indeed, be out of place, to describe here the further progress of the fire, which had then but fairly begun, and which was still burning more than a fortnight afterwards. Great as was the general consternation at so terrible a conflagration, it is doubtful if the public were not still more impressed by the dreadful death of Mr. Braidwood, and by a feeling that his loss was a public misfortune. Her Majesty the Queen, with that ready sympathy which she has ever shown for crushed or suffering heroism, commanded the Earl of Stamford to inquire on the spot, on Monday, whether the body had yet been recovered by the firemen, and Her Majesty's sympathies were also conveyed to Mrs. Braidwood. It was not, however, until the following morning, that after almost constant exertions, under the greatest difficulties, the crushed remains were rescued. An inquest was necessary, not merely to ascertain what was already well known, that death had been instantly caused by accident, but to know whether culpable carelessness of any kind had indirectly led to the sorrowful event. None, however, appeared. The remains of the fallen chief were afterwards borne to his late residence in Watling-street. The members of the committee of the London Fire-engine Establishment, formed of representatives from all of the twenty-five insurance companies of London, had already met to express, by a formal resolution, their sincere condolence with Mrs. Braidwood and her family. It was known that the funeral would take place on Saturday, June 29th, and it was widely felt that a general expression of sorrow and respect should be made, in view of the common loss of so valued a public servant, as well as for the noble qualities for which he had been so long and so well known. On the occasion of the funeral this was shown not more by the great length and marked character of the _cortége_ itself than by the general suspension of business in the leading thoroughfares of the city through which it passed, and by the hushed demeanour of the countless multitude who pressed closely upon the procession throughout its entire course. Among the thousands who sadly led the way to the grave were the London Rifle Brigade, about 700 strong (and of which Mr. Braidwood's three sons were members), the Seventh Tower-Hamlets, and other rifle corps, upwards of 1000 constables of the metropolitan police force, besides nearly 400 members of the city police, the superintendents and men of the various water companies, the secretary and conductors and the band of the Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire, a large number of private and local fire-brigades, and the members of the London Fire-engine Establishment. The pall-bearers were six of Mr. Braidwood's engineers and foremen, some of whom were at his side when he fell, and who had barely escaped with their own lives. Following the chief mourners were the Duke of Sutherland, the Earl of Caithness, the Rev. Dr. Cumming, and a large number of relatives and friends of the deceased, and the committee of the London Fire-engine establishment. The procession was nearly one mile and a-half in length, and was about three hours in its progress from Watling-street to Abney Park Cemetery, where the solemn service of the dead was conducted by the Rev. Dr. Cumming, of whose congregation the deceased had long been a member. With the exception of the great bell of St. Paul's, which tolls only on the occasion of the death of a member of the royal family or of a lord-mayor in office, the bells of all the churches in the city were booming slowly through the day, and so evident was the general sorrow that it could be truly said that the heart of the nation mourned. On Thursday, July 4th, a public meeting was held at the Mansion House, when resolutions were passed for the collection of subscriptions towards a memorial to Mr. Braidwood's long and arduous public services. This memorial, it was felt, should take the form of a permanent provision for his family, for the post of Fire Brigade Superintendent had never been a lucrative one. Before, however, the collection of subscriptions had extended beyond a few hundred pounds, it was made known that the insurance companies had promptly settled upon Mrs. Braidwood the full "value"--speaking in an insurable sense--of her husband's life. Mr. Braidwood had for many years supported two maiden sisters, and the public subscription was applied, therefore, to the purchase of small annuities for each of them. It will be remembered that the London Fire-engine Establishment was from the first controlled only by the insurance companies, upon whom of course, fell the whole cost of its maintenance. Their interest in the suppression of fires, although direct and unmistakeable, was not the same as that of the public. Thus, it would be to the public advantage that no fires should happen, whereas such a result would be fatal to the insurance companies, since no one in that case would insure. Although the protection of the Establishment was in practice extended alike to both insured and uninsured property, the real object for which it was formed and maintained was undoubtedly that of protecting insured property only. It was the interest of the companies to incur as little expense as would, on the whole, fairly effect this purpose, and it was not their interest to effectually protect the whole of the metropolis from fire. Thus it was that, with all the excellence of the organization and discipline of the Fire-engine Establishment, it was greatly inferior in extent to what was requisite for the proper security of the first city in the world. Mr. Braidwood had long felt this truth, but, acting for a private association, he could only go to the extent of the limited resources at his disposal. It was, more than anything else, the great fire at Cotton's Wharf that first directed public attention to the necessary insufficiency of any private establishment for the general suppression of fires, and that has led to the legislation under which the Fire-engine Establishment was, on the 1st of January last, taken over and extended by the Metropolitan Board of Works. London will now, it is hoped, be better protected from fire, because of the increased extent of the means of protection; but it can hardly be expected that the discipline of the brigade will be improved. Apart from the public value of Mr. Braidwood's career in increasing the common security against a common foe, there was much in his personal, intellectual, and moral qualities worthy of admiration. He was a man of strong and commanding frame, of inexhaustible energy, and of enduring vitality. The constitutions of but few men could have withstood such long continued wear and tear as fell to his. He braved all weathers, all extremes of heat and cold, could sleep or wake at will, and could work on long after others would have given way. He was always at his post, and in no moment of difficulty or danger did his cool judgment or his steady courage forsake him. It was this, together with his considerate bearing, and on occasions of special trial his almost womanly kindness to his men, that inspired them with unlimited confidence in him and in his plans. Beyond this, he was a man of superior mind, with strong comprehensive and generalising faculties. His various published papers, and a correspondence of which but few could know the extent and importance, as well as his ready, clear, and exact manner in stating his views before committees and before those in authority, who so often consulted him, all attest an order of mind which, in a different sphere, would alone have won distinction for its possessor. His profession was one in which it happens that almost every person thinks himself competent to give advice; yet, without any assumption of authority, Mr. Braidwood could make it felt wherever he pleased that he was a master in the art of extinguishing fire. But he was not on this account the less ready to listen to suggestions, and there are numbers who can bear testimony to the patient, honest, and appreciative manner in which he considered the many and diverse propositions submitted to him as the head of the Fire Brigade of the first city in the world. The soundness of his views and opinions is sufficiently attested by the success of his practice--a success which, but for the Government tax upon fire policies, would have long since made fire insurance in London almost the cheapest of all the forms of protection of property from danger. The London Brigade was insignificant in numbers and tame in display when compared with the eight hundred _sapeurs pompiers_ of Paris, with their parade and all their accessories of effect--insignificant and tame, too, after the glittering apparatus, imposing paraphernalia, and deafening clatter of the "Fire Department" of New York; but Mr. Braidwood's chosen men knew how to do their duty, and considering the differences in the mode of building and of heating, and in the extent of lighting in the three great metropoli just named, it is an easy matter, on reference to statistics, to prove that none others have done better. Above all, Mr. Braidwood was a gentleman of deep Christian feeling; and those who knew him best had never doubted that, had it been his lot to linger long in pain, knowing the end that was to come, his calm but unwavering faith in a better future would have sustained him through all. Brought up from childhood in the faith of the Scotch church, he was a regular attendant upon the ministrations of the Rev. Dr. Cumming. In his own quiet way he did much good in the poorer districts of London, and he took a special interest in the ragged schools of the metropolis. What he was in his own home may be best inferred from the crushing force with which his dreadful yet noble fate fell upon those who were dearest to him. His family had already too much reason to know the dangers which had always attended his career. A step-son had fallen, five years before, in nearly the same manner, and now lies buried in the same grave. Eleven members, in all, of the brigade, had perished in the discharge of their duty during the time Mr. Braidwood had commanded it: a fact which, taken with daily experience, pointed to other victims to follow. Such consolation, then, as a stricken widow and a mourning family could have, next to an abiding faith in the goodness of God, was in the recollection of the virtues and noble qualities of the husband and father, and in the spontaneous sorrow with which a great people testified their sense of his worth and of their common loss. To show the universal as well as national esteem in which Mr. Braidwood was held, two extracts are here given from the numerous letters of condolence addressed to his bereaved family, from all parts of the world. Mr. G. H. Allen, Secretary to the Boston (America) Fire Department, writes: "It gives me pleasure to unite with the Board in testimony to the extreme kindness of Mr. Braidwood in the conduct of our correspondence, whereby we have been greatly benefited and received extensive information. Allow me also to extend our sympathy to those who have lost one who will ever be remembered as standing at the head of the most valued arm of the Government, and one that you can hardly expect to be replaced, except by years of experience and great natural ability." Mr. T. J. Bown, Superintendent of the Sydney (Australia) Fire Brigade, in a letter dated 22nd August 1861, says, "On receipt of the sad news, our large fire-bell was tolled, the British ensign hoisted half-mast high, and crape attached to the firemen's uniform, as a token of respect for one of the noblest and most self-denying men that ever lived, who spent and lost his life in the service of his fellow-creatures." A TRUE HERO. JAMES BRAIDWOOD.--_Died, June 22nd, 1861._ By the Author of "JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN." Not at the battle front,-- Writ of in story; Not on the blazing wreck, Steering to glory; Not while in martyr pangs Soul and flesh sever, Died he--this Hero new-- Hero for ever. No pomp poetic crown'd, No forms enchained him, No friends applauding watched, No foes arraigned him: Death found him there, without Grandeur or beauty, Only an honest man Doing his duty: Just a God-fearing man, Simple and lowly, Constant at kirk and hearth, Kindly and holy: Death found--and touched him with Finger in flying:-- So he rose up complete-- Hero undying. Now, all mourn for him, Lovingly raise him Up from his life obscure, Chronicle, praise him; Tell his last act, done midst Peril appalling, And the last word of cheer From his lips falling; Follow in multitudes To his grave's portal; Leave him there, buried In honour immortal. So many a Hero walks Daily beside us, Till comes the supreme stroke Sent to divide us. Then the Lord calls His own,-- Like this man, even, Carried, Elijah-like, Fire-winged, to heaven. _Macmillan's Magazine_, Vol. IV., page 294. FIRE PREVENTION INCLUDING FIRE-PROOF STRUCTURES. To prevent fires it is necessary to consider what are the principal causes of such calamities. These may be classed under several heads:-- 1. Inattention in the use of fires and lights. 2. Improper construction of buildings, &c. 3. Furnaces or close fires for heating buildings, or for mechanical purposes. 4. Spontaneous ignition. 5. Incendiarism. As almost all fires arise from inattention in one shape or another, it is of the utmost importance that every master of a house or other establishment should persevere in rigidly enjoining and enforcing on those under him, the necessity of observing the utmost possible care in preventing such calamities, which, in nineteen cases out of twenty, are the result of remissness or inattention. Indeed, if any one will for a moment consider the fearful risk of life and property, which is often incurred from a very slight inattention, the necessity of vigilance and care will at once be apparent. Immense hazard is frequently incurred for the most trifling indulgences, and much property is annually destroyed, and valuable lives often lost, because a few thoughtless individuals cannot deny themselves the gratification of reading in bed with a candle beside them. Some years ago, upwards of 100,000_l._ were lost, through the partner of a large establishment lighting gas with a piece of paper, which he threw away, and thus set fire to the premises, although it was a strict rule in the place that gas should only be lighted with tapers, which were provided for that purpose. In one department of a great public institution, it was, and is still, a rule that only covered lights should be carried about, and for that purpose four lanterns were provided; yet, on inquiry some time back, it was found that only one was entire, the other three being broken--one having lost two sides and the top; still they were all used as covered lights. The opportunities for inattention to fires and lights are so various, that it is impossible to notice the whole. One of the prevailing causes of fire is to be traced to persons locking their doors, and leaving their houses to the care of children. I believe one-half of the children whose deaths are occasioned by accident suffer from this cause alone: indeed, almost every week the newspapers contain some melancholy confirmation of what I have here stated. Intoxication is also a disgraceful and frequent cause of fire. The number of persons burned to death in this way is really incredible. It is true that it does not always happen that a fire takes place in the house, in either of the above cases, although the unfortunate beings whose clothes take fire, rarely escape with their lives; but the danger to the neighbourhood is at all times considerable, if persons in a state of inebriety are left in a house alone. When there is reason to apprehend that any member of a family will come home at night in that state, some one should always be appointed to receive him, and on no account to leave him till he is put to bed, and the light extinguished. I do not mean to say that people must be actually drunk before danger is to be apprehended from them. Indeed, a very slight degree of inebriety is dangerous, as it always tends to blunt the perception, and to make a person careless and indifferent. I may also add, that no inconsiderable number of fires are occasioned by the thoughtless practice of throwing spirits into the fire. The dresses of females taking fire adds very much to the list of lives lost by fire, if it does not exceed all the other causes put together. Another very general cause of fire is that of approaching with lighted candles too near bed or window curtains; these, being generally quite dry, are, from the way in which they are hung, easily set on fire, and, as the flames ascend rapidly, when once touched, they are in a blaze in a moment. It is really astonishing to find that, with daily examples before their eyes, people should persist (whether insured or not seems to make little difference) in practices which, there is a hundred chances to one, may involve both themselves and the neighbourhood in one common ruin. Of this sort are the practices of looking under a bed with a lighted candle, and placing a screen full of clothes too near the fire. Houses not unfrequently take fire from cinders falling between the joints of the outer and inner hearths. When smoke is observed to arise from the floor, the cause should be immediately ascertained, and the inmates ought on no account to retire to rest while there is the slightest smell of fire, or any grounds to suspect danger from that cause. Occasional fires are caused by a very absurd method of extinguishing at night the fires kept in grates during the day. Instead of arranging the embers in the grate in such a way as to prevent their falling off, and thus allowing the fire to die out in its proper place, they are frequently taken off and laid on the hearth, where, should there be wood-work underneath, it becomes scorched, and the slightest spark falling through a joint in the stones sets it on fire. A very frequent cause of fire in shops and warehouses arises from the carelessness of the person intrusted to lock them up. It is no uncommon practice with those to whom this duty is intrusted, to light themselves out, or to search for any little article which may have been mislaid, with a lighted paper, and then to throw it carelessly on the floor, imagining they have taken every necessary precaution, merely by setting their foot upon it, forgetting that the current of air occasioned by shutting the door frequently rekindles it, and produces the most serious consequences. In warehouses and manufactories, fires are not unfrequently caused by the workmen being occasionally kept late at work. By the time their task is finished, the men are so tired and sleepy, that the extinguishing of fires and lights is done in a very careless manner. I recollect an instance of this sort, in which the flames were issuing from three upper windows, and observed by the neighbours, while the workmen engaged at their employment in the lower floors knew nothing of the destruction that was going on above. A very serious annual loss is also caused by want of due care in handing up or removing the goods in linen-drapers' shop windows when the gas is burning. Flues taking fire often result in mischief and it is believed that many serious fires have arisen from this cause, which can hardly be called accidental, as, if flues are properly constructed, kept moderately clean, and fairly used, they cannot take fire. From what has been said, it will be seen that care and attention may do a very great deal towards the prevention of fire, and consequent loss of life. It is very easy to make good rules, and keep them for a time, after having been alarmed by some serious loss of property or life, but the difficulty is to maintain constant attention to the subject. The most evident plan for effecting this seems to be, for the masters thoroughly to examine and consider the subject at certain stated periods, not too far apart, and to constantly warn their domestics, workmen, or others, of the danger of the improper use of fires and lights. One of the greatest preventives of carelessness in the use of fires and lights would be a legal inquiry in every case, as it would not only show the faults that had been committed, and thus warn others, but the idea of being exposed in the newspapers would be another motive for increased care. This plan has been adopted in New York, and the reports of the proceedings of Mr. Baker, the "Fire Marshal," show that the inquiries there made have led to most useful results. Mr. Payne, the coroner, held inquests on fires in the City of London some years ago, but the authorities would not allow his expenses, and therefore they were given up, although believed to be highly advantageous in explaining accidental and others causes of fire. _The improper construction of buildings_ more generally assists the spread than is the original cause of fires, although laying hearths on timber, and placing timber too near flues, are constant causes of fire, and it is believed that many melancholy occurrences have arisen from these and similar sources. One cause of danger from chimneys arises from the communication which they often have with each other in one gable. The divisions or partitions, being very often found in an imperfect state, the fire communicates to the adjoining chimney, and in this way sometimes wraps a whole tenement in flames. I know a division of a principal street in Edinburgh, in which there is scarcely a single chimney-head that is not more or less in this condition; and I have no doubt that this is not an uncommon case. There is also great danger from the ends of joists, safe-lintels, or other pieces of timber, being allowed to protrude into chimneys. In one instance which came under my notice, a flue passing under the recess of a window had on the upper side no other covering than the wood of the floor; of course, when the chimney took fire the floor was immediately in a blaze: but there are many instances of such carelessness. It is a common practice amongst carpenters to drive small pieces of wood into walls for the purpose of fixing their work, not paying the least attention as to whether the points run into the flues or not. In the repairs and alterations of old buildings, house-carpenters are, if possible, even more careless in this particular, than in the construction of new. I know of two different buildings which underwent some alterations. In both of these, safe-lintels had been run into flues, and both of them, after the alterations, took fire; the one in consequence of a foul chimney, which set fire to the lintel; and although the other did not take fire from the same cause, the lintel was nevertheless very much scorched, and obliged to be removed. Great carelessness is frequently exhibited by builders, when erecting at one time two or three houses connected by mutual gables, by not carrying up the gables, or party-walls, so as to divide the roofs. I have seen more than one instance where the adjoining house would have been quite safe, but for this culpable neglect. It is no uncommon thing, too, to find houses divided only by lath and standard partitions, without a single brick in them. When a fire occurs in houses divided in this manner, the vacuities in the middle of the partitions act like so many funnels to conduct the flame, thereby greatly adding to the danger from the fire, and infinitely increasing the difficulty of extinguishing it. In London the Building Act forbids all such proceedings, but the District Surveyors do not seem to have sufficient power, or be able to pay sufficient attention to such matters, as they are constantly met with at fires. A very flagrant case of laying a hearth on timber was lately exposed by a fire in the City. Due notice was given of the circumstance, but no farther attention was paid to the matter than to make the proprietor construct the floor properly, although the Act gave power to fine for such neglect. The omission is to be regretted, as there could not have been a better case for warning others; it occurred in a very large establishment, and the work was done by one of the first builders in the City. Had this fire taken place in the night and gained some head, it would have been very difficult to have ascertained the cause. As the premises were situated, a serious loss of life might have occurred, the apartment in which the fire originated being the only means of retreat which ten or twelve female servants had from their bedrooms. The Metropolitan Building Acts, up to about the year 1825, by insisting upon party-walls and other precautions, were invaluable for the prevention of the spread of fires. By them no warehouse was permitted to exceed a certain area. From the year 1842, the area has been exchanged for a specified number of cubic feet. But since 1825, a class of buildings has arisen of which there are now considerable numbers in the City, called Manchester or piece goods warehouses, which somehow have been exempted from the law restricting the extent of warehouses, on the plea that they are _not_ warehouses, because "bulk is broken" in them, although it is thoroughly understood that the legislature intended by the Act to restrict the amassing such a quantity of goods under one roof as would be dangerous to the neighbourhood. Manchester and piece goods warehouses have for some time past been built in London of unlimited size, sometimes equal to twenty average houses. This is pretty nearly the same as if that number of houses were built without party-walls, only that it is much worse, for the whole mass generally communicates by well holes and open staircases, and thus takes fire with great rapidity, and, from the quantity of fresh air within the building, the fire makes much greater progress before it is discovered. By this means the risk of fire in the City has been greatly increased, not only to such warehouses themselves, but to the surrounding neighbourhood, for it is impossible to say how far fires of such magnitude may extend their ravages under untoward circumstances, there being at present no preventive power in London capable of controlling them. To provide such a power would be a very costly business. Such buildings are also against the generally received rule, that a man may burn himself and his own property, but he shall not unduly risk the lives and property of his neighbours. The new Building Act is likely to repress, to a certain extent, this great evil, unless its meaning be subverted by some such subterfuge as destroyed the efficiency of the last one. But what is to be done with those which are already built? It may seem tedious to dwell so much on this subject, but it appears to be a risk which is not generally much thought of, though it is of the most vital importance to the safety of London. It is very desirable that the metropolis should take warning by the experience of Liverpool, without going through the fiery ordeal which the latter city did. From 1838 to 1843, 776,762_l._ were lost in Liverpool by fire, almost entirely in the warehouse risks. The consequence was, that the mercantile rates of insurance gradually rose from about 8_s._ per cent. to 30_s._, 40_s._, and, it is said, in some cases, to 45_s._ per cent. Such premiums could not be paid on wholesale transactions, therefore the Liverpool people themselves obtained an Act of Parliament, 6 and 7 Vic., cap. 109, by which the size and height of warehouses were restricted, party walls were made imperative, and warehouses were not allowed to be erected within thirty-six feet of any other warehouse, unless the whole of the doors and window-shutters were made of _wrought iron_, with many similar restrictions. This Act applied to warehouses already built as well as to those to be built, and any tenant was at liberty, after notice to his landlord, to alter his warehouse according to the Act, and to stop his rent till the expense was paid. Another Act, 6 and 7 Vic., cap. 75, was also obtained, for bringing water into Liverpool for the purpose of extinguishing fires and watering the streets _only_. It is supposed that the works directed, or permitted, by these two Acts, cost the people of Liverpool from 200,000_l._ to 300,000_l._ Shortly after these alterations had been made, the mercantile premiums again fell to about 8_s._ per cent. There is another very common cause of fire, which seems to come under the head of construction--viz., covering up a fireplace when not in use with wood or paper and canvas, &c. The soot falls into the fireplace, either from the flue itself, or from an adjoining one which communicates with it. A neighbouring chimney takes fire; a spark falls down the blocked-up flue, sets fire to the soot in the fireplace, which smoulders till the covering is burned through, and thus sets fire to the premises. In theatres, that part of the house which includes the stage and scenery should be carefully divided from that where the spectators assemble by a solid wall carried up to, and through the roof. The opening in this wall for the stage should be arched over, and the other communications secured with iron doors, which would be kept shut while the audience was in the house. By this plan, there would be abundance of time for the spectators to retire, before fire could reach that part of the theatre which they occupy. _The danger from furnaces_ or close fires, whether for heating, cooking, or manufacturing purposes, is very great, and no flue should be permitted to be so used, unless it is prepared for the purpose. The reason is, that in a close fire the whole of the draught must pass through the fire. It thus becomes so heated that, unless the flue is properly built, it is dangerous throughout its whole course. In one instance of a heating furnace, the heat in the flue was found to be 300°, at a distance of from forty to fifty feet from the fire. In open fireplaces, the quantity of cold air carried up with the draught keeps the flue at a moderate heat, from the fire upwards, and, unless the flue is allowed to become foul, and take fire, this is the safest possible mode of heating. Heating by hot air, steam, and hot water are objectionable. First, because there must be a furnace and furnace flue, and the flue used is generally that built for an open fire only; and second, the pipes are carried in every direction, to be as much out of sight as possible. By this means they are constantly liable to produce spontaneous ignition, for there appears to be some chemical action between heated iron and timber, by which fire is generated at a much lower temperature than is necessary to ignite timber under ordinary circumstances. No satisfactory explanation of this fact has yet been given, but there is abundant proof that such is the case. In heating by hot-water pipes, those hermetically sealed are by far the most dangerous, as the strength of the pipes to resist the pressure is the only limit of the heat to which the water, and of course the pipes, may be raised. In some cases a plug of metal which fuses at 400° is put into the pipes, but the heat to which the plug is exposed will depend very much on where it is placed, as, however great may be the heat of the exit pipe, the return pipe is comparatively cool. But even where the pipes are left open, the heat of the water at the furnace is not necessarily 212°. It is almost needless to say that 212° is the heat of boiling water under the pressure of one atmosphere only; but if the pipes are carried sixty or seventy feet high, the water in the furnace must be under the pressure of nearer three atmospheres than one, and therefore the heat will be proportionately increased. Fires from pipes for heating by hot water have been known to take place within twenty-four hours after first heating, and some after ten years of apparent safety. The New Metropolitan Building Act prescribes rules for the placing steam, hot-air, and hot-water pipes at a certain distance from timber; but as it must be extremely difficult for the District Surveyors to watch such minute proceedings, it becomes every one who is anxious for safety to see that the District Surveyors have due notice of any operation of this kind. Another cause of fire which may come under this head is the use of pipes for conveying away the products of combustion. Every one is acquainted with the danger of stove pipes, but all are not perhaps aware that pipes for conveying away the heat and effluvia from gas-burners are also very dangerous when placed near timber. It is not an uncommon practice to convey such pipes between the ceiling and the flooring of the floor above. This is highly dangerous. Gas-burners are also dangerous when placed near a ceiling. A remarkable instance of this took place lately, where a gas-burner set fire to a ceiling 28-1/2 inches from it. Another evil of furnaces is, that the original fireplace is sometimes not large enough to contain the apparatus, and the party wall is cut into. Perhaps it may be necessary to notice at this point the use of gas, as it is becoming so very general. Gas, if carefully laid on, and properly used, is safer than any other light, so far as actually setting fire to anything goes, but the greater heat given out so dries up any combustibles within its reach, that it prepares them for burning, and when a fire does take place, the destruction is much more rapid than in a building lighted by other means. Gas-stoves, also, from the great heat given out, sometimes cause serious accidents; in one instance, a gas-stove set fire to a beam through a two-and-half inch York landing, well bedded in mortar, although the lights were five or six inches above the stone. This is mentioned to show that gas-stoves require quite as much care as common fires. _Spontaneous ignition_ is believed to be a very fruitful cause of fires; but, unless the fire is discovered almost at the commencement, it is difficult to ascertain positively that this has been the cause. Spontaneous ignition is generally accelerated by natural or artificial heat. For instance, where substances liable to spontaneous ignition are exposed to the heat of the sun, to furnace flues, heated pipes, or are placed over apartments lighted by gas, the process of ignition proceeds much more rapidly than when in a cooler atmosphere. Sawdust in contact with vegetable oil is very likely to take fire. Cotton, cotton waste, hemp, and most other vegetable substances are alike dangerous. In one case oil and sawdust took fire within sixteen hours; in others, the same materials have lain for years, until some external heat has been applied to them. The greater number of the serious fires which have taken place in railroad stations in and near London have commenced in the paint stores. In a very large fire in an oil warehouse, a quantity of oil was spilt the day before and wiped up, the wipings being thrown aside. This was believed to have been the cause of the fire, but direct proof could not be obtained. Dust-bins also very often cause serious accidents. In one instance, 30,000_l._ to 40,000_l._ were lost, apparently from hot ashes being thrown into a dust-bin. These accidents may in a great measure be avoided by constant care and attention to cleanliness, and where paints and oils are necessary, by keeping them in some place outside the principal buildings. Dust-bins should, as much as possible, be placed in the open air, and where that cannot be done, they should be emptied once a day. No collection of rubbish or lumber of any sort should be allowed to be made in any building of value. Mr. Wyatt Papworth, architect, has published some very interesting notes on spontaneous ignition, giving several well-authenticated instances. _Incendiarism_ may be divided into three sorts--malicious, fraudulent, and monomaniac. Of the former there has been very little in London for many years. The second, however, is rather prevalent. The insurance offices, which are the victims, protect themselves as well as they can, but an inquest on each fire is the true mode of lessening the evil. This is much more the interest of the public than at first seems to be the case. In several instances where the criminals were brought to punishment by Mr. Payne's inquests, people were asleep in the upper parts of the houses set fire to, and in one case there were as many as twelve or fifteen persons. This, however, is seldom stated in the indictment, as, if it is, the punishment is still death by the law, and it is supposed that a conviction is more easily obtained, by the capital charge being waived. Monomania is a rare cause of incendiarism, but still several well-certified cases have occurred in which no possible motive could be given. In one instance a youth of fifteen set fire to his father's premises seven times within a few hours. In another, a young female on a visit set fire to her friend's furniture, &c., ten or eleven times in the course of one or two days. In neither case could anything like disagreement or harshness be elicited, but the reverse. In other instances, it has been strongly suspected that this disease was the cause of repeated fires, but there was no positive proof. In all these cases, known or suspected, the parties were generally from fourteen to twenty years of age. FIRE-PROOF STRUCTURES. What is "Fire-proof Construction?" is a question which has given rise to a great deal of discussion, simply, as it appears to me, because the size of the buildings, and the quantity and description of the contents, have not always been taken into account. That which may be perfectly fireproof in a dwelling house, may be the weakest in a large warehouse. Suppose an average-sized dwelling-house 20 � 40 � 50 = 40,000 cubic feet, built with brick partitions, stone or slate stairs, wrought-iron joists filled in with concrete, and the whole well plastered. Such a house will be practically fire-proof, because there is no probability that the furniture and flooring in any one room, would make fire enough to communicate to another. But suppose a warehouse equal to twenty such houses, with floors completely open, supported by cast-iron pillars, and each floor communicating with the others by open staircases and wells; suppose, further, that it is half filled with combustible goods, and perhaps the walls and ceilings lined with timber. Now, if a fire takes place below, the moment it bursts through the upper windows or skylights, the whole place becomes an immense blast furnace; the iron is melted, and in a comparatively short time the building is in ruins, and, it may be, the half of the neighbourhood destroyed. The real fire-proof construction for such buildings is groined brick arches, supported on brick pillars only. This mode of building, however, involves so much expense, and occupies so much space, that it cannot be used with advantage. The next best plan is to build the warehouses in compartments of moderate size, divided by party-walls and double wrought-iron doors, so that if one of these compartments takes fire, there may be a reasonable prospect of confining the fire to that compartment only. Again, cast iron gives way from so many different causes, that it is impossible to calculate when it will give way. The castings may have flaws in them; or they may be too weak for the weight they have to support, being sometimes within 10 per cent., or less, of the breaking weight. The expansion of the girders may thrust out the side walls. For instance, in a warehouse 120 feet � 75 feet � 80 feet, there are three continuous rows of girders on each floor, with butt joints; the expansion in this case may be twelve inches. The tie rods to take the strain of the flat arches must expand and become useless, and the whole of the lateral strain be thrown on the girders and side walls, perhaps weak enough already. Again, throwing cold water on the heated iron may cause an immediate fracture. For these and similar reasons, the firemen are not permitted to go into warehouses supported by iron, _when once fairly on fire_. Cast and wrought-iron have been frequently fused at fires in large buildings such as warehouses, sugar houses, &c., but according to Mr. Fairbairn's experiments on cast iron in a heated state, it is not necessary that the fusing point should be attained to cause it to give way.[A] He also states, that the loss of strength in cold-blast cast iron, in a variation of temperature from 26° to 190° = 164° Fahr., is 10 per cent., and in hot-blast at a variation of from 21° to 190° = 169° Fahr., is 15 per cent.; now if the loss of strength advances in anything like this ratio, the iron will be totally useless as a support, long before the fusing point is attained. Much confidence has been placed in wrought-iron tie or tension rods, to take the lateral strain of the arches, and also in trusses to support the beams; but it must be evident that the expansion of the iron from the heat, would render them useless, and under a high temperature, it would be so great as to unsettle the brickwork, and accelerate its fall, on any part of the iron-work giving way: again, the application of cold water to the heated iron, in an endeavour to extinguish the fire, is almost certain to cause one or more fractures. The brick-arching is also very liable to fall, especially if only four and a half inches thick, independently of the weight which may be placed upon it, for it is not uncommon after a fire in a large building, to find the mortar almost completely pulverized to the depth of three inches, or four inches, from the face of the wall. When a fire occurred under one of the arches of the Blackwall Railway, on the 15th July, 1843, a portion of the lower ring fell down, and also a few bricks from the next ring. Another very serious objection to buildings of this description, is that, unless scientifically constructed, they are very unlikely to be safe, even for the common purposes intended, independent of the risk of fire. In the Report of Sir Henry De la Bêche and Mr. Thomas Cubitt on the fall of the mill at Oldham, in October, 1844,[B] it is stated that the strength of the iron-beams was within ten per cent. of the breaking weight. Now according to Mr. Fairbairn's experiments on heated iron, already referred to, an increase of temperature of only 170° would have destroyed the whole building. It is quite clear, therefore, that so long as mill-owners and others continue to construct such buildings without proper advice, they must be liable to these accidents. In timber-floors there can be no such risk, as the strains are all direct, and any journeyman carpenter, by following good examples, can ascertain the size required; and even if he makes a mistake, the evil is comparatively trivial, as the timber will give notice before yielding, and may be propped up for the time, until it can be properly secured. In the case of fire-proof buildings, an ignorant person may make many mistakes without being aware that he has done so, and the slightest failure is probably fatal to every one within the walls. This also increases the difficulty and danger of extinguishing fires in a large building, as the only method of doing so is for the firemen to enter it with their branches, and in case of the floors falling, there is no chance of escape. On the other hand, timber-floors have repeatedly fallen while the firemen were inside the building, and they have made their escape uninjured. In a pamphlet published by Mr. S. Holme, of Liverpool, in 1844,[C] and which contains a report from Mr. Fairbairn on fire-proof buildings, it is stated, that many people, especially in the manufacturing districts, are their own architects; that the warehouses in Liverpool may be loaded to one ton per yard of flooring; and that unless great care and knowledge are used in the construction of fire-proof buildings, they are of all others the most dangerous.[D] The following are the principles on which Mr. Fairbairn proposes to build fire-proof warehouses:-- The whole of the building to be composed of non-combustible materials, such as iron, stone, or bricks. In order to prevent fire, whether arising from accident or spontaneous combustion, every opening, or crevice, communicating with the external atmosphere to be closed. An isolated staircase, of stone, or iron, well protected on every side by brick, or stone walls, to be attached to every story, and be furnished with a line of water-pipes, communicating with the mains in the street, and ascending to the top of the building. In a range of stores, the different warehouses to be divided by strong partition-walls, in no case less than eighteen inches thick, and no more openings to be made than are absolutely necessary for the admission of goods and light. That the iron columns, beams, and brick arches be of strength sufficient, not only to support a continuous dead pressure, but to resist the force of impact to which they are subject by the falling of heavy goods upon the floors. That in order to prevent accident from the columns being melted by intense heat in the event of fire in any of the rooms, a current of cold air should be introduced into the hollow of the columns, from an arched tunnel under the floors. There is no doubt that if the second principle could be carried out, namely, the total exclusion of air, the fire would go out of itself; but it seems, to say the least of it, very doubtful indeed if this can be accomplished, and if it could, the carelessness of a porter leaving open one of the doors or windows, would make the whole useless. The fifth principle shows that Mr. Fairbairn has omitted to allow for the loss of strength the iron may sustain from the increase of temperature. The last principle would not be likely to answer its purpose, even if it was possible to keep these tunnels and hollow columns clear for a number of years, which is scarcely to be expected. A piece of cast-iron pipe, one-and-a-half inch in diameter, was heated for four minutes in a common forge, both ends being carefully kept open to the atmosphere, when, on one end being fixed in a vice, and the other pulled aside by the hand, it gave way. One of the principal objections to the kind of fire-proof buildings above described, is, that absolute perfection in their construction is indispensable to their safety; whereas buildings of a more common description are comparatively safe, although there may be some errors or omissions in their construction. Indeed, Mr. Fairbairn states in the same Report, that "it is true that negligence of construction on the one hand, and want of care in management on the other, might entail risk and loss to an enormous extent." The following is a very clear proof of the inability of cast iron to resist the effects of fire:-- "A chapel in Liverpool-road, Islington, seventy feet in length and fifty-two feet in breadth, took fire in the cellar, on the 2nd October, 1848, and was completely burned down. After the fire, it was ascertained that of thirteen cast-iron pillars used to support the galleries, only two remained perfect; the greater part of the others were broken into small pieces, the metal appearing to have lost all power of cohesion, and some parts were melted. It should be observed, that these pillars were of ample strength to support the galleries when filled by the congregation, but when the fire reached them, they crumbled under the weight of the timber only, lightened as it must have been by the progress of the fire." In this case it mattered little whether the pillars stood or fell, but it would be very different with some of the large wholesale warehouses in the City, where numbers of young men sleep in the upper floors; in several of those warehouses the cast-iron pillars are much less in proportion to the weight to be carried than those referred to, and would be completely in the draught of a fire. If a fire should unfortunately take place under such circumstances, the loss of human life might be very great, as the chance of fifty, eighty, or one hundred people escaping in the confusion of a sudden night alarm, by one or two ladders, to the roof, could scarcely be calculated on, and the time such escape must necessarily occupy, independent of all chance of accidents, would be considerable. For the reasons here stated, I submit that large buildings, containing considerable quantities of combustible goods, with floors of brick-arches, supported by cast-iron beams and columns, are not, practically speaking, fire-proof; and that the only construction which would render large buildings fire-proof; where considerable quantities of combustible goods are deposited, would be groined brick-arches, supported by pillars of the same material, laid in proper cement. I am fully convinced, from a lengthened experience, that the intensity of a fire,--the risk of its ravages extending to adjoining premises, and also the difficulty of extinguishing it, depend, _cæteris paribus_, on the cubic contents of the building which takes fire, and it appears to me that the amount of loss would be very much reduced, if, instead of building immense warehouses, which give the fire a fortified position, warehouses were made of a moderate size, with access on two sides at least, completely separated from each other by party-walls, and protected by iron-doors and window-shutters. In the latter case, the probability is, that not more than one warehouse would be lost at a time, and perhaps that one would be only partially injured. It is sincerely to be hoped that the clause in the last Metropolitan Building Act, restricting the size of warehouses, may be more successful than its predecessor, for it is not only property that is at stake, but human life. In many of these "Manchester warehouses," there are fifty or one hundred and upwards of warehousemen and servants sleeping in the upper floors, whose escape, in case of fire, would be very doubtful, to say the least of it.[E] Covering timber with sheet-iron is very often resorted to as a protection against fire. I have never found it succeed; but Dr. Faraday, Professor Brande, Dr. D. B. Reid, and Mr. W. Tite, M.P., are of opinion that it may be useful against a sudden burst of flame, but that it is worse than useless against a continued heat. In wadding manufactories the drying-rooms were frequently lined with iron-plates, and when a fire arose there, the part covered with iron was generally found more damaged than the rest; the heat got through the sheet-iron, and burnt the materials behind it, and there was no means of touching them with water until the iron was torn down; sheet iron should not, therefore, be used for protecting wood. Even cast iron, one inch thick, laid on tiles and cement three inches thick, has allowed fire to pass through both, to the boarding and joisting below, merely from the fire in an open fire-place being taken off and laid on the hearth. This arises from iron being so good a conductor that, when heat is applied to it, it becomes in a very short time nearly as hot on the one side as the other. If the smoke escapes up a chimney, or in any other way, there may be a serious amount of fire before it is noticed. In a fire at the Bank of England, the hearth on which the stove was placed was cast iron an inch thick, with two-and-a-half inches of concrete underneath it; but the timber below that was fired. With regard to the subject of fire-proof dwelling-houses of average size, I consider that such houses when built of brick or stone, with party-walls carried through the roof; the partitions of brick, the stairs of slate or stone, the joists of wrought iron filled in with concrete, and the whole well plastered, are practically fire-proof because, as stated at the opening of this chapter, there is no probability that the furniture and flooring in any one room would make fire enough to communicate to another. The safest manner of heating such houses is with open fire-places, the hearths not being laid upon timber. Stone staircases, when much heated, will fracture from cold water coming suddenly in contact with them; but in a dwelling-house built as described above, there is very little chance of such a circumstance endangering human life, even with wooden steps carried upon brick walls, and rendered incombustible by a ceiling of an inch and a quarter of good hair mortar and well pugged, all the purposes of safety to human life would be attained. There is a particular description of floor, which, although not altogether fire-proof, is certainly (at least so far as I can judge), almost practically so for dwelling-houses. It is composed simply of plank two and a-half or three inches thick, so closely joined, and so nicely fitted to the walls, as to be completely air-tight. Its thickness and its property of being air-tight, will be easily observed to be its only causes of safety. Although the apartment be on fire, yet the time required to burn through the floor above or below, will be so great, that the property may be removed from the other floors, or, more probably, if the means of extinguishing fire be at hand, it may be subdued before it can spread to any other apartment. The doors must of course be made in proportion, and the partitions of brick or stone. Before closing the subject of fire-proof structures, I will add a few words upon fire-proof safes. These are all constructed with double casings of wrought iron, the interstices being in some filled with non-combustible substances, such as pumice stone and Stourbridge clay, and in others with metal tubes, that melt at a low temperature, and allow a liquid contained in them to escape, and form steam round the box, with the intention of preventing the heat from injuring the contents. Such safes I have never found destroyed; and in some cases, after large fires, the whole of the contents have been found uninjured, while the papers in common safes, merely made strong enough to prevent their being broken into, were generally found consumed. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote A: _Vide_ Seventh Report of the British Association, 1837, vol. vi. page 409.] [Footnote B: _Vide_ Report on the Fall of the Cotton Mill, at Oldham, and part of the Prison at Northleach, page 4. Folio. London: Clowes and Sons, 1845.] [Footnote C: _Vide_ Report of W. Fairbairn, Esq., on the Construction of Fire-proof Buildings. With introductory Remarks by Samuel Holme, page 11, _et seq._ Tract, 8vo. Liverpool: T. Baines, 1844.] [Footnote D: The Author has been informed by Mr. Farey, M. Inst. C.E., that a fire took place, in 1827, in a mill belonging to Mr. Marshall, of Leeds, the whole of which, with the exception of the roof, was fire-proof. The upper floor was filled with flax, which took fire; the roof fell in, and the heat so affected the iron beams of the floor, as to cause them to give way.] [Footnote E: In the year 1858, when reporting to the Insurance Offices upon the Warehouses in the Metropolitan Docks, Mr. Braidwood made the following suggestions which are applicable to all large buildings. That all the party-walls where the roofs do not rise above the wall, should be 3 feet 6 inches above such roof. That all the party-walls in the valleys of the roofs should be raised to the level of the highest ridge on either side, all openings in such walls being closed by wrought-iron doors on each side of the walls, at least a quarter of an inch thick in the panels, and such openings not to exceed 42 superficial feet in the clear. That all windows which look upon other windows, or loop-hole doors in other warehouses or compartments, within 100 feet, should be bricked up, or have wrought-iron shutters at least 3/16th of an inch thick in the panels. That all loop-hole doors similarly situated should be made entirely of wrought iron, frames included, or bricked up. That all shafts for lifts or other purposes, should be of brick, with wrought-iron doors where necessary to receive or deliver goods, and that all openings whatever for machinery should be included in such shaft. That every hatchway or opening in the floors for "shooting" goods from floor to floor should have a strong flap _hinged on_ to the floor, to be closed when not in use, especially at night. That there should be direct access to every room, of every compartment, of every warehouse, from a fire-proof staircase, by iron doors, and that all such staircases should enter from the open air, as well as from under any warehouse on the quay; in the latter case the doors must be of iron only. All the windows in the entresol and ground floors to be bricked up, or have iron shutters, and the doors and frames to be of iron. Wherever the warehouses face each other within 100 feet, the front parapet walls to be carried up to the level of the ridge of the roof. When it is stated in this report that the windows or loop-hole doors should be bricked up, it is not meant to exclude the use of thick glass, three or four pieces being built into each door or window space, not exceeding 6 inches in diameter or square, in the clear, and set in the mortar or cement at least 3/4 of an inch all round, the glass to be not less than 1-1/2 inches thick, flat on both sides, and so placed that no goods can be stored within 18 inches of the inner surface. There should be a tank on the top of each staircase, with a tap from it on each landing, with six fire buckets hung near it, and three small hand pumps in every staircase; the officers and workpeople seeing these every day would be certain to run to them in case of fire, and by having a constant supply of water on every floor small accidents might be extinguished at once, and the iron doors and roofs kept cool in case of one room taking fire.] FIRE EXTINCTION, INCLUDING FIRE BRIGADES, FIRE ENGINES, AND WATER SUPPLY. Before entering upon the subject of Public Fire Brigades, I will call attention to the course to be pursued by inmates of the house on fire, and their neighbours. When all available means of fire prevention have been adopted, the next thing to be considered is a supply of water. In the country, or where there are no water-pipes or engines, this ought to be particularly attended to, and a hand-pump should be provided. Where no water is kept solely for the purpose of extinguishing fire, such vessels as can be spared should be regularly filled every night, and placed in such situations as may be most convenient in case of danger; and no master of a family ought to retire to rest, without being satisfied that this has been attended to. If it had no other advantage than merely that of directing the inmates of a house to the possibility of such an occurrence as fire, it would be worth much more than the trouble such an arrangement would cost; but, in addition to that, a supply of water would be at hand, in most cases more than sufficient to extinguish the fire immediately on its being discovered, and before it had become either alarming or dangerous. But when no such precaution has been adopted, when even the bare possibility of fire has not been considered, when no attention has even been paid to the subject, and no provision made for it; the inhabitants are generally so alarmed and confused, that the danger is probably over, by their property being burned to the ground, before they can sufficiently recollect themselves to lend any effective assistance. In most cases of fire, the people in whose premises it occurs are thrown into what may be called a state of temporary derangement, and seem to be actuated only by a desire of muscular movement, no matter to what purpose their exertions are directed. Persons may often be seen toiling like galley-slaves, at operations which a moment's reflection would show were utterly useless. I have seen tables, chairs, and every article of furniture that would pass through a window, three or four stories high, dashed into the street, even when the fire had hardly touched the tenement. On one occasion I saw crockery-ware thrown from a window on the third floor.[F] Most of these extravagances take place on the first alarm. When the engines have got fairly into play, people begin to recollect themselves, and it is at this time that most of those "who go to see a fire" arrive. By the exertions of the police there is then generally a considerable degree of order restored, and the most interesting part of the scene is over. What remains, however, may, from its novelty or grandeur, if the fire is extensive, be still worth looking at for a little, but much of the excitement is banished with the confusion; and if the fire and firemen seem to be well matched, the chief interest which is excited in the spectators is to ascertain which of the parties is likely to be victorious. Few people, comparatively, have thus an opportunity of witnessing the terror and distraction occasioned by the first alarm of fire, and this may probably account for the apathy and indifference with which people who have not seen this regard it. When a fire actually takes place, every one should endeavour to be as cool and collected as possible; screams, cries, and other exhibitions of terror, while utterly useless in themselves, have generally the effect of alarming those whose services might otherwise be of the utmost advantage, and of rendering them unfit for useful exertion. It is unhappily, too, at the commencement of fires, that this tendency to confusion and terror is the strongest, when a bucket of water, properly applied, is generally of more value than a hundred will be half an hour afterwards. It is the feeling of total surprise, on the breaking out of a fire, which thus unhinges the faculties of many individuals. They have never made the case their own, nay, one would almost imagine they had scarcely thought such an occurrence possible, till, coming on them almost like a thunderbolt, they are lost in perplexity and terror. The only preventive against this is to think the matter over frequently and carefully before it occurs. The moment it is ascertained that fire has actually taken place, notice should be sent to the nearest station where there is a fire-engine. No matter whether the inmates are likely to be able to extinguish the fire themselves--this should never be trusted to if more efficient help can be had. It is much better that an engine should be turned out twenty times when it is not wanted, than be once too late. This may cause a trifling expense; but even that expense is not altogether lost, as it teaches the firemen steadiness and coolness. The person in the house best qualified for such duty should endeavour to ascertain, with as much precision as possible, the extent and position of the fire, while the others collect as much water as they can. If the fire be in an upper floor, the inmates should be got out immediately, although the lower part of the house may generally be entered with safety for some time. If in the lower part of the house, after the inmates have been removed, great care should be observed in going into any of the upper floors, as the flames very often reach the stair before being observed by those above. The upper floors are, besides, generally filled with smoke, and, in that case, there is great danger of suffocation to those who may enter. This, indeed, is the principal danger attending fires, and should be particularly guarded against, as a person, when being suffocated, is unable to call for assistance. In a case of this kind the fire took place in the third floor from the street, and all the inmates immediately left the premises except one old woman. In about fifteen minutes after the arrival of the engines, the firemen made their way upstairs, and the poor woman was found dead beside a basket partly filled with clothes, which it was supposed she had been packing up for removal; had she made any noise, or even broke a pane of glass, she would, in all probability, have been saved; as the fire never touched the floor in which she was found, she must have died entirely from suffocation, which a little fresh air would have prevented. Had the slightest suspicion existed that any one was in the upper floors, they would have been entered by the windows or the roof; but as the fire took place in daylight, and none of the neighbours spoke of any one being in the house, it was thought unnecessary to damage the property, or risk the lives of the firemen, without some adequate cause. This, however, shows how little dependence can be placed on information received from the inmates of the premises on fire. Some of the people who lived on the same floor with this poor woman, and who had seen her immediately before they left the house, never mentioned her. I do not suppose that this negligence arose from apathy, or any feeling of that sort; but the people were in such a state of utter confusion, that they were unable to think of anything. But to return. On the first discovery of a fire, it is of the utmost consequence to shut, and keep shut, all doors, windows, or other openings. It may often be observed, after a house has been on fire, that one floor is comparatively untouched, while those above and below are nearly burned out. This arises from the door on that particular floor having been shut, and the draught directed elsewhere. If the person who has examined the fire finds a risk of its gaining ground upon him, he should, if within reach of fire-engines, keep everything close, and await their arrival, instead of admitting air to the fire by ineffectual efforts to oppose it with inadequate means. In the meantime, however, he should examine where a supply of water is most likely to be obtained, and communicate that, and any other local information, to the firemen on their coming forward. If there be no fire-engine within reach, the person who has examined the fire should keep the place where it is situated as close as possible, till as many buckets of water as can be easily collected are placed within his reach. Taking care always that there is some one ready to assist him, he should then open the door, and creep forward on his hands and knees till he gets as near the fire as possible; holding his breath, and standing up for a moment to give the water a proper direction, he should throw it with force, using a hand pump if available, and instantly get down to his former position, where he will be again able to breathe. The people behind handing forward another bucket of water, he repeats the operation till the fire is quenched, or until he feels exhausted; in which case some one should take his place. If there be enough of water, however, two, three, or any convenient number of people may be employed in throwing it; on the contrary, if the supply of water be insufficient to employ even one person, the door should be kept shut while the water is being brought, and the air excluded as much as possible, as the fire burns exactly in proportion to the quantity of air which it receives. One great evil, and which ought to be strictly guarded against by people not accustomed to fire, is, that on the first alarm they exert themselves to the very utmost of their strength. This, of course, can last but a short time; and when they feel tired, which in that case soon happens, they very often give up altogether. Now this is the reverse of what it ought to be. In extinguishing fires, like most other things, a cool judgment and steady perseverance are far more effective than any desultory exertions which can be made. The heat generally increases in a considerable degree when water is first thrown upon a fire, from the conversion of a portion of it into steam. This is sometimes very annoying; so much so, that the persons engaged in throwing the water, frequently feel themselves obliged to give back a little. They should on no account, however, abate or discontinue their exertions in throwing the water with as much force as possible in the direction of the fire; it will in a short time cool the air and materials, and the steam will, in consequence, be generated more slowly, while a steady perseverance on the part of those employed can alone effect the object in view. When water is scarce, mud, cow or horse dung, damp earth, &c., may be used as substitutes; but if there seems no chance of succeeding by any of these, and the fire is likely to extend to other buildings, the communication should be immediately cut off by pulling down the building next to that on fire. Any operation of this sort, however, should be begun at a sufficient distance from the fire to allow the communication to be completely cut off, before it gains upon the workmen. If this operation be attempted so near the fire as to be interrupted by it, it must be begun again at a greater distance; and, in that case, there is a greater destruction of property than might have been necessary. If a fire occur in a stable or cow-house, surrounded with other buildings of the same description, or with the produce of a farm, there is much danger. The cattle and horses should be immediately removed; and, in doing so, if any of them become restive, they should be blindfolded, taking care that it is done thoroughly, as any attempt to blindfold them partially, only increases the evil. They should be handled as much as possible in the ordinary manner, and with great coolness; the violent gestures and excited appearance of the persons removing them tending greatly to startle the animals, and render them unmanageable. PUBLIC FIRE BRIGADES AND THE DUTIES OF FIREMEN. The best public means of arresting fires is a very wide question, as the only limit to the means is the expense. Different nations have different ways of doing the same thing. On the Continent generally, the whole is managed by Government, and the firemen are placed under martial law, the inhabitants being compelled to work the engines. In London, the principal means of arresting fires is a voluntary association of the insurance companies, without legal authority of any sort, the legal protection by parish engines being, with a few praiseworthy exceptions, a dead letter. In Liverpool, Manchester, and other towns, the extinction of fires by the pressure of water only, without the use of fire-engines, is very much practised. The advantages of this system are very great; but, to enable us to follow this system in London, the whole water supply would require to be remodelled. In America, the firemen are generally volunteers, enrolled by the local Governments. They are exempt from other duties, or are entitled to privileges, which appear to satisfy them, as the situation of fireman is eagerly sought in most of the American cities. Which is the best of these different modes it is difficult to say; perhaps each is best suited for the place where it exists. It is now generally admitted, that the whole force brought together to extinguish a fire ought to be under the direction and control of one individual. By this means, all quarrelling among the firemen about the supply of water, the interest of particular insurance companies, and other matters of detail, is avoided. By having the whole force under the command of one person, he is enabled to form one general plan of operations, to which the whole body is subservient; and although he may not, in the hurry of the moment, at all times adopt what will afterwards appear to be the best plan, yet it is better to have some general arrangement, than to allow the firemen of each engine to work according to their own fancy, and that, too, very often in utter disregard as to whether their exertions may aid or retard those of their neighbours. The individual appointed to such a situation ought not to be interfered with, or have his attention distracted, except by the chief authority on the spot, or the owner of the premises on fire. Much valuable information is frequently obtained from the latter, as to the division of the premises, the party-walls, and other matters connected with its locality. But, generally speaking, the less interference and advice the better, as it occupies time which may generally be better employed. I need scarcely add, that on no account whatever should directions be given to the firemen by any other individual while the superintendent of brigade is present; and that there may be no quarrelling about superiority, the men should be aware on whom the command is to devolve in his absence. It has often been to me a matter of surprise, that so small a portion of the public attention should be directed to the matter of extinguishing fires. It is only when roused by some great calamity that people bestir themselves; and then there is such a variety of plans proposed to avert similar cases of distress, that to attempt to concoct a rational plan out of such a crude, ill-digested, and contradictory mass of opinion, requires more labour and attention than most people are inclined to give it, unless a regular business was made of it. In Paris the corps of military firemen are so well trained, that although their apparatus is not so good as it should be, the amount of the losses by fire is comparatively trifling. If the head-quarters of such an establishment were to be in London, a store of apparatus, constructed on one uniform plan, could be kept there, to be forwarded to any other part of the kingdom where it might be required. This uniformity of the structure and design of the apparatus could extend to the most minute particulars; a screw or a nut of any one engine would fit every other engine in the kingdom. A depôt could also be kept at head-quarters, where recruits would be regularly drilled and instructed in the business, and a regular system of communication kept up with all the provincial corps. Any particular circumstances occurring at a fire would thus be immediately reported, and the advantages of any knowledge or experience thus gained, would be disseminated over the whole kingdom. As the matter at present stands one town may have an excellent fire-engine establishment, and another within a few miles a very indifferent one, and when the one is called to assist the other, they can neither act in concert, nor can the apparatus of the one in case of accident be of the smallest service in replacing that of the other. The best might (if a proper communication were kept up) be under frequent obligations to the worst, and here, as in other matters, it is chiefly by communication that knowledge is increased. If the whole experience of the country were brought together, and maturely considered and digested by persons competent to judge, I have no doubt that a system might be introduced suitable to the nation and to the age in which we live. Instead of hearing of the "_dreadful losses by fire_," and the "_great exertions_" made to extinguish it, all the notice would be, such a place took fire, the engines arrived, and it was extinguished. It would be useless for me to enter into the details of a plan which I have little hope of ever seeing realized. I may state, however, that a premium might be offered for the best engine of a size previously agreed upon, which, when finished, should be kept as a model. Specifications could then be made out, and estimates advertised for, for all the different parts, such as wheels, axles, levers, cisterns, barrels, air-vessels, &c., separately. When any particular part of an engine was damaged, it could be immediately replaced, and the engine again rendered fit for service; and upon emergency any number of engines could be set up, merely by putting the different parts together. The work would also be better done; at least it would be much more easy to detect faults in the materials or workmanship than if the engines were bought ready for use. These remarks apply to all the rest of the apparatus. It could be provided that firemen might be enlisted for a term of years. When enlisted, they would be sent to the depôt at head-quarters, drilled to the use of the engines, and carefully instructed in separating and cleaning the different parts. Here also they could be practised in gymnastic exercises, and generally instructed in everything tending to promote their usefulness as firemen. They could then be sent off to some large towns, and, after having seen a little active service, distributed over the country in such parties as might be deemed necessary for the places they were intended to protect. The practice of keeping fire-engines at noblemen's and gentlemen's residences, and at large manufactories in the country, is by no means uncommon, and I have no doubt that many more would supply themselves in this way if they knew where to apply for information in such matters; but the great fault lies in the want of persons of skill and experience to work them when fire occurs. In the way I have mentioned, proprietors and others could have one or more of their workmen instructed in this necessary piece of duty; and I have no doubt that many gentlemen would avail themselves of the means of instructing some of their servants. It will be observed, I do not propose that the firemen who are enlisted, drilled, and instructed in the business, should be sent to the different stations in sufficient numbers to work the engines; this part of the work can be performed by any man accustomed to hard labour, as well as by the most expert fireman, and the local authorities could easily provide men for this purpose. In small towns, where fires are rare, the novelty would draw together plenty of hands; and in large towns, where the inhabitants are not sufficiently disinterested to work for nothing, there are always plenty who could be bound to assist in cases of fire at a certain rate per hour, to be paid upon a certificate from the fireman who has charge of the engine at which they worked. The trained firemen would thus be required only for the direction of the engine, attaching the hose, &c. I am quite aware that many people object to the training of firemen; but it would be just as reasonable to give to a mob all the "matériel" of war, and next day expect it to act like a regular army, as to expect engines to be managed with any general prospect of success, unless the men are properly trained and prepared for the duty which is expected from them. Fire is both a powerful and an insidious enemy, and those whose business it is to attack it will best succeed when they have become skilful and experienced in the use of their arms. It is quite obvious that a fire brigade, however complete in its apparatus and equipments, must depend for its efficiency on the state of training and discipline of the firemen. Wherever there is inexperience, want of co-operation, or confusion amongst them, the utmost danger is to be apprehended in the event of fire. It is amidst the raging of this destructive element, the terror and bustle of the inhabitants, that organization and discipline triumph, and it is there, too, that coolness and promptitude, steadiness and activity, fearlessness and caution, are peculiarly required; but, unfortunately, it is then also that they are most rarely exhibited. There should not be less than five or six men attached to each engine, who should be properly instructed and drilled, to take charge of it, and to guide the people who work at the levers. The person having the principal charge of the engines should frequently turn over in his mind what might be the best plan, in such and such circumstances, supposing a fire to take place. By frequently ruminating on the subject, he will find himself, when suddenly turned out of bed at night, much more fit for his task than if he had never considered the matter at all. Indeed he will frequently be surprised, when examining the premises afterwards (_which he ought always to do, and mark any mistakes he may have committed_), that he should have adopted the very best mode of extinguishing the fire, amid the noise, confusion, and the innumerable advices showered down on him, by all those who consider themselves qualified or entitled to give advice in such matters; a number, by the way, which sometimes includes no inconsiderable portion of the spectators. He should also make himself well acquainted with the different parts of the town in which he may be appointed to act, and notice the declivities of the different streets, &c. He will find this knowledge of great advantage. Any buildings, supposed to be particularly dangerous, should be carefully examined, and all the different places where supplies of water can be obtained for them noticed. A knowledge of the locality thus obtained will be found of great advantage in case of a fire breaking out. Indeed all firemen, especially those having the charge of engines, should be instructed carefully to examine and make themselves acquainted with the localities of their neighbourhood or district. Such knowledge will often prove valuable in emergencies; the proprietors or tenants of the property on fire being sometimes in such a state of alarm, that no distinct intelligence can be got from them. When an engine is brought to a fire, it ought to be placed as nearly as possible in a straight line between the supply of water and the premises on fire; taking care, however, to keep at such a distance from the latter that the men who work the pumps may be in no danger from being scorched by the heat, or of being annoyed by the falling of water or burning materials. Running the engine close upon the fire serves no good purpose, except to shorten the quantity of hose that would otherwise be required. The addition of twenty or thirty feet of hose makes very little difference in the working of the engine, and, when compared with the disadvantage of the men becoming unsteady from the idea of personal danger, is not even to be named. Indeed, if the engine be brought too near the fire, there is danger of the men quitting the levers altogether. I may also add that, both for the safety of the hose and the convenience of the inhabitants, the engine should be kept out of the way of people removing furniture. When the hose is attached and the engine filled with water, the man who holds the branch-pipe, accompanied by another, should get so near the fire, inside the house, _that the water from the branch may strike the burning materials_. If he cannot accomplish this standing, he must get down on his hands and knees and creep forward, those behind handing up the hose. A stratum of fresh air is almost always to be depended on from six to twelve inches from the floor, so that if the air be not respirable to a person standing upright, he should instantly get down. I have often observed this fact, which indeed is well known; but I once saw an example of it which appeared to me to be so striking, that I shall here relate it. A fire had broken out in the third floor of a house, and when I reached the top of the stair, the smoke was rolling in thick heavy masses, which prevented me from seeing six inches before me. I immediately got down on the floor; above which, for a space of about eight inches the air seemed to be remarkably clear and bright. I could distinctly see the feet of the tables and other furniture in the apartment; the flames in this space burning as vivid and distinct as the flame of a candle, while all above the smoke was so thick that the eye could not penetrate it. The fire had already burst through three out of five windows in the apartment, yet, when lying flat on the floor, no inconvenience was felt except from the heat. When the fire has broken through a floor, the supply of air along that floor is not to be depended on--the fire drawing the principal supply of air from the apartments below. When the two first firemen have gained a favourable position, they should keep it as long as they are able; and when they feel exhausted, the men behind them should take their place. The great point to which everything ought to be made subservient is, _that the water on its discharge from the branch-pipe should actually strike the burning materials_. This cannot be too often or too anxiously inculcated on every one connected with a fire-engine establishment. Every other method not having this for its grand object, will, in nine cases out of ten, utterly fail; and upon the degree of attention paid to this point, depends almost entirely the question as to the amount of damage the fire will occasion. When approaching a fire, it should always be done by the door, if possible. When this is attended to, it is much easier to shift the hose from one apartment to another; and the current of fresh air, entering by the door and proceeding along the passages, makes respiration easier and safer than elsewhere. When entrance by the door is impracticable, and access is to be gained by a window, the flames frequently burst through in such a manner as to render advance in the first instance impossible. In that case, the branch should be pointed against the window, nearly in a perpendicular direction; the water striking the lintel, and falling all round inside the window, will soon extinguish the fire at that point sufficiently to render an entrance practicable. The old plan of standing with the branch pipe in the street, and throwing the water into the windows is a very random way of going to work; and for my own part, although I have seen it repeatedly tried, I never saw it attended with success. Indeed it is hardly to be expected that water, thrown from the street into a room three or four storeys high, can have any impression on closets, presses, or passages, divided probably with brick partitions in the centre of the house. The circumstance of having engines at work on both sides of the house does not alter the case. The fire very often burns up through the centre, and frequently, when the space between the windows is large, along the front or back wall, till it arrives at the roof, which the water cannot touch on account of the slates or tiles. On the other hand, when the firemen enter the house, the fire is almost wholly under their command. And when it happens that there is any corner which the water cannot directly strike, the fire in it may often be extinguished by throwing the water against an opposite wall or partition, and trusting to the recoil to throw it to the point required. When the water is thrown from the street, it is impossible to say whether it touches the parts on fire or not. No one can tell anything about it, except when the flame appears at the windows. On going with the branch inside the house, besides the advantage of the water rushing directly from the hose upon the fire, there is a great saving in the article of water itself. The whole that is thrown by the engine is applied to the right purpose. No part of it is lost; that which does not strike the burning materials falls within the house; and, by soaking those parts on which it falls, prevents their burning so rapidly when the flames approach them. If, on entering an apartment, it be found that the flames cover a considerable space, it is of advantage, in some instances, to place the point of the thumb in contact with the water at the nozzle of the branch. By this means the water may be spread to cover any space under twenty or thirty feet, according to the pressure applied. While speaking of the mode of entering houses on fire, I may mention that I have tried several inventions for the purpose of elevating the branch pipe and hose to the level of a second or third story window. But these, although exceedingly ingenious, appear to me to rest on a principle entirely wrong; I mean that of throwing water on the fire from the outside of the building. Independent altogether of a mistaken principle of usefulness, one insuperable objection to all these machines, is the difficulty of conveying them with the necessary celerity, and the impossibility of packing them on the engine in such a manner that it may be worked without their being taken off, as it seems to me _that every description of apparatus which cannot be conveyed along with the engine, is likely to be left behind when most wanted_. It is notorious that parish fire-ladders are, for this reason, seldom or never made use of. Many people object to going inside a building on fire on account of the danger. It ought never to be forgotten, however, that the danger increases with the delay; and that although at first there may be no danger, if the opportunity is not promptly seized, it may become very considerable. Several of the firemen have at different times fainted, or become stupefied, from the want of fresh air; but as no one is ever allowed to enter singly, they have been, in all cases, immediately observed by their comrades, and relieved. Another objection has been raised in the alleged difficulty of persuading men to risk their lives in this manner for the small consideration which is allowed them. The truth is, that any persuasions I have had occasion to use, have been generally on the other side. To hold the branch is considered the post of honour; and when two engines are working together, I have sometimes difficulty in preventing the men from pressing forward farther than is absolutely necessary. This forwardness is not the result of pecuniary reward for the increase of risk, but a spirit of emulation is at work, and the man entrusted with this duty, if found drawing back, would be completely disgraced. A retreat should in all cases be kept open, to provide against any accident that may occur; and as this may be done in almost all cases by means so easy and simple, there can be no excuse for its omission. At the same time no one but an expert fireman should be permitted to enter where there is personal danger. The danger to which firemen are most exposed is catching cold, from their being so frequently drenched with water, and from their exposure to the sudden alternations of heat and cold. A man is turned out of bed at midnight, and in a few minutes after quitting it he is exposed to the sharp air, perhaps, of a frosty winter night; running to the fire as fast as he can, he is, from the exercise, joined to the oppressive heat inside the place on fire, in a few minutes in a state of the most profuse perspiration; and, while in this state, he is almost certain to be soaked with cold water. The smoke is sometimes so thick, that he comes under the range of the branch of the engine without being aware of it till the water strikes him. If he escape this chance, the water rushing on some other object, recoils on him, and produces the same effect; and if the fire be in the roof of the apartment, he must lie down on his back on the floor, and in this manner gets completely steeped. A bath of this sort is neither very safe nor pleasant; and the only preventive of injury to the health is to keep the men in constant motion. When they are allowed to stand still or sit down, the danger is considerable. When the fire is extinguished, or in two or three hours after its commencement, I make it a rule to give every man a dram of spirits. If it be necessary to leave an engine on the spot, those of the men who are to remain are sent home to change their clothes. THE LONDON FIRE BRIGADE. The London Fire Brigade now (January, 1861) consists of one superintendent, four foremen, each being appointed to a district consisting of a fourth part of London, which he never leaves except on some very pressing emergency, and who, in the absence of the superintendent, has the sole command of all engines, or firemen, within, or who may come within, his district; twelve engineers, ten sub-engineers, forty-seven senior firemen, and forty-three junior firemen: in all, one hundred and seventeen individuals. In addition, there are fifteen drivers and thirty-seven horses, all living at the several stations, and ready when required. There is also a supplementary force of four extra firemen, four drivers, and eight horses living at the stations, pursuing their usual avocations, and only paid by the Committee when required. The mechanical appliances consist of twenty-seven large engines drawn by horses, eight small engines drawn by hand, two floating-engines worked by steam, one of forty-horse power, and the other of eighty-horse power, one land steam fire-engine, and twenty-eight hand-pumps, one of the latter being carried on each engine. When an engine is sent to a fire, only four firemen and one driver accompany it. The levers are worked by the by-standers, who are paid one shilling for the first hour, and sixpence for each succeeding hour, besides refreshments. Upwards of six hundred assistants have been thus employed at one time. The principal protection of London against fire is entirely voluntary on the part of the insurance companies, to whom the above establishment belongs; there being no law in any shape whatever to control or sustain the brigade; and with the exception of some fifteen or twenty, the parish-engines are comparatively useless at a serious fire. It must not be omitted, that the greatest possible assistance is given to the firemen by the police, of whom there are about 7000, in keeping back the crowd, &c. The fire-offices look upon the whole as a matter of private business, so that the brigade is proportioned quite as must to the amount which the offices think it prudent to spend as to the size of the place. Paris, which is not half the size of London, and the buildings of which are much more substantial, has upwards of 800 firemen. It appears to me that any success which the brigade may have attained depends, in a great measure, on the liberal pay given, by which the best men for the purpose can be obtained, the favourable view in which the brigade is regarded by the public, and the willing and able assistance given by a numerous and perhaps the best police in existence. The firemen in London being constantly employed on weekly wages, give their whole time to their employers, and are much more under command than where men are only occasionally employed. The wages and treatment being liberal, although the discipline is severe, there are generally a considerable number of candidates for each vacancy. Thus good men are obtained, seamen being preferred, as they are taught to obey orders, and the night and day watches and the uncertainty of the occupation are more similar to their former habits, than to those of other men of the same rank in life. The large number of fires is, however, the principal cause of any advantage the London firemen may possess over those of smaller places; and it is hardly fair to compare firemen who have only an opportunity of attending one or two fires in a week, to those who attend nearly three fires a day. The firemen are drilled first daily, and then two or three times a week, for some months; and this, with an average of three calls a day, soon makes them acquainted with the routine of their business; but it takes years of constant work to make a thoroughly good fireman. The management of the London Fire Brigade is confided to a Committee, consisting of one of the directors or secretaries from each of the fire-offices in London. The superintendent has the command of the whole force. The town is divided into four districts, in each of which there are stationed a sufficient number of engines, under the charge of a foreman, with engines and firemen under him. The districts are as follows:-- NORTH SIDE OF RIVER. District A. From the eastward to Paul's Chain, St. Paul's Churchyard, Aldersgate-street, and Goswell-street-road. B. From St. Paul's, &c., to Tottenham-court-road, Crown-street, and St. Martin's-lane. C. From Tottenham-court-road, &c., westward. D. South side of River. The men are clothed uniformly; are distinguished by numbers corresponding with their names in the books; and regularly exercised in the use of their engines, and in such other duties as the Committee or Superintendent may direct. The following general regulations do not contain rules of conduct applicable to every variety of circumstance that may occur to individuals in the performance of their duty, as something must always be left for the exercise of intelligence and discretion; and, according to the degree in which these qualities in members of the Establishment are combined with zeal and activity, they become entitled to future promotion and reward. It is strongly impressed upon the minds of all persons serving in the Establishment, that one of the greatest advantages which the present system possesses above that which it superseded, is derived from the embodying the whole force under one responsible officer. It is, therefore, incumbent upon the men to render prompt and cheerful obedience to the commands of their superiors; to execute their duties as steadily and quietly as possible; to be careful not to annoy the inhabitants of houses they may be called upon to enter, and to treat all persons with civility; to take care to preserve presence of mind and good temper, and not to allow themselves to be distracted from their duty by the advice or directions of any persons but their own officers, and to observe the strictest sobriety and general regularity of behaviour. As every man wears the uniform of the Establishment, which is marked with a number corresponding with his name in the books, he must constantly bear in mind that misconduct will not only reflect discredit upon the Establishment, but be easily brought home to himself and subject him to proportional punishment. The men are particularly cautioned not to take spirituous liquors from any individual without special permission of the superintendent, or, in his absence, of the foreman of the district; and as intoxication upon the alarming occasion of fires is not only disreputable to the Establishment, but in the highest degree dangerous, by rendering the men unfit for duty, every appearance of it is most rigidly marked, and the foremen, engineers, and sub-engineers report immediately, for the purpose of being laid before the Committee, every instance of insubordination or intoxication, and the men are accordingly apprised that the regulations regarding the above-mentioned faults will be most strictly enforced. All the men in the Establishment are liable to be punished by fine, suspension, reduction, or dismissal, for disobeying or neglecting any of these regulations, or for any other misconduct; and the disposal of the fines so collected is at the discretion of the Committee. The following are the conditions upon which each man is admitted into the Establishment:-- He devotes his whole time to the service. He serves and resides wherever he is appointed. He must promptly obey all orders which he may receive from those placed in authority over him. The age of admission does not exceed twenty-five, nor is under eighteen. He conforms himself to all regulations which may be made from time to time. He does not upon any occasion, or under any pretence whatever, take money from any person, without the express permission of the Committee. He appears at all times in the dress of the Establishment. If lodgings be found for him, a deduction of one shilling per week is made from his pay, if unmarried; if married, and if lodgings be found for him, an agreement in each particular case will be made. He receives his pay weekly on such day as shall be appointed. The pay of a Junior Fireman is 3_s._ per day, or 21_s._ a week. The pay of a Senior Fireman, 3_s._ 6_d._ a day, or 24_s._ 6_d._ a week. The pay of a Sub-Engineer is 26_s._ a week. The pay of an Engineer, 4_s._ a day, or 28_s._ a week. The Foremen are paid by annual salaries. Each man contributes towards a Superannuation Fund, according to a scale determined by the Committee. Each man receives annually-- One short frock coat, marked with a number answering to his name in the books. A black neckcloth. Two pairs of cloth trousers. One cloth cap. Four pairs of boots in three years, and Once in three years he receives-- One great coat. He does not quit the service without giving fourteen days' previous notice; if he quits without such notice, or is dismissed, the whole of his pay then due is forfeited. Every man who is dismissed from the Establishment, or who resigns his situation, delivers up, before he quits the service, every article of dress and appointment which may have been supplied to him; if any of such articles have been, in the opinion of the superintendent, improperly used or damaged, the man makes good the damage or supplies a new article. Every man in the service is liable to immediate dismissal for unfitness, negligence, or misconduct. The Committee, if they see fit, may dismiss a man without assigning any reason. No fireman must allow to be used by any other person, nor use himself, except while he belongs to the Establishment, the button and badge given with his clothes. In the event of sickness rendering any man incapable of performing his duties, the Committee reserves to itself the power of making a deduction from his weekly pay. Each man, on his admission, gives to the Committee, if required, a letter of guarantee from some respectable person, to an amount not exceeding 50_l._, as security. OUTLINE OF GENERAL DUTY. One-third of the men are constantly on duty at the different engine-houses, night and day; and the whole are liable to be called up for attendance at fires, or for any other duty. In general, it is arranged as follows, viz.:-- If a fire happen in District A, the whole of the men and engines of that district immediately repair to the spot; two-thirds of the men, and one of the engines, from each of the districts B and D, also go to the fire; and one-third of the men from the district C. If the fire happen in B, the whole of the men and engines in that district immediately repair to the fire; one engine from A, another from C, two-thirds of the men from A and C, and one-third of the men from D. If the fire happen in C, the whole of the men and engines in that district, one engine and two-thirds of the men from the district B, and one-third of the men from A and D, go to the fire. If the fire happen in D, the whole of the men and engines in that district, with one engine and two-thirds of the men from the district A, and one-third of the men from B and C, shall go to the fire. If a fire happen on the boundary of a district, and it is doubtful in which district it has occurred, the whole of the engines and men of the two adjoining districts instantly proceed to the spot, and one-third of the men of the two remaining districts. In case of emergency, the superintendent calls in such additional force as he may require. The engines are not taken to alarms of chimneys on fire, unless the circumstances of the case should, in the opinion of the superintendent, foreman, or engineer, require a deviation from this regulation. When any of the men from another district come to assist at a fire, if the engine to which they are attached is not in attendance, they instantly go to the foreman's engine of the district to which they come. The engines are conveyed to fires at not less than seven miles per hour, and the men who do not accompany the engines go at not less than four miles per hour. Any engineer or fireman who, when at a fire, is absent from an engine or a branch pipe, without orders from the superintendent or foreman, is liable to a fine. If any of the men are sick, or absent from any other cause, their duties are performed by other men attached to their engine-station. With a view to the men being always at hand, they are lodged as near as possible to their respective engine-houses. The roll is called at each station every morning and evening. No man leaves his own residence or the engine-station to which he belongs from 10 P.M. to 6 A.M. except to go to a fire, or by an order from a superior, or with written leave from the superintendent, and the senior man on duty is answerable if he does not report any departure from this rule. Men on duty not at the engine-stations are allowed one hour for breakfast and one for dinner, as follows:--One-half of the men on duty go to breakfast from 8 to 9, and the other half from 9 to 10; also one-half go to dinner from 1 to 2, and the other half from 2 to 3. The second half in no case leave until the whole of the first half have returned, neither do the men on duty leave morning or evening until the relief has arrived. The engineer or senior man on duty is answerable for this regulation being carried into effect. And any man being absent from the premises he is watching or working in, except at the regular hours, is punished. The men for duty individually assemble at the principal engine-house in the district before, or precisely at, the hour fixed for that purpose. Their names are called, and an inspection made by the foreman of the district, to ascertain that they are sober and correctly dressed and appointed. The foreman then reads and explains the orders of the day. At the hour for relieving the men, no one leaves his engine-house until the relief has actually arrived there; when the men are relieved, their names are called over, and they are inspected by the engineer, that he may ascertain whether they are sober, and as correctly dressed and appointed as when they went on duty. The engineer enters these inspections in a book. The engineers deliver a written report, according to a printed form, twice each day, to the foreman of the district, who in his turn reports twice a day to the superintendent. The whole of the men are, at all times, ready to appear at any place required, for exercise or any other purpose, and are ready (whether on duty or not) to execute whatever orders they may receive, in relation to the Establishment, from the engineers, foremen, or superintendent. DUTIES OF SUPERINTENDENT. The Superintendent resides at the principal engine-station in Watling-street. The moment an alarm of fire is given, wherever it may be, he repairs to the spot with all possible expedition, and takes the command of the whole force. He endeavours to ascertain the cause of the fire, and reports the same to the committee. He is responsible for the general conduct of the foremen, engineers, and firemen under his charge. He makes himself well acquainted with the character and conduct of every man under his orders. He must be firm and just, and, at the same time, kind and conciliating in his behaviour on all occasions. He takes care that the printed regulations and all others given out from time to time, are promptly and strictly obeyed; and he gives clear and precise instructions to the men under him, and reports every instance of neglect of a serious nature to the Committee. He must feel the importance of visiting some of the engine-houses, at uncertain hours, every day and night. He suspends and reports to the Committee persons who are guilty of serious misconduct; and at once punishes by fines, according to a scale sanctioned by the Committee, irregularities of a lighter character, reporting such fines to them. He must be at all times prepared to furnish the Committee with particulars respecting the state of the Establishment. When a fire is extinguished, the superintendent retains only such a number of men and engines as he may think necessary for watching the premises. He communicates with the surveyors of stock of the offices interested in a fire, and arranges with them, in the event of its being necessary, to work out salvage from the ruins. When a fire happens, he causes a report to be made immediately, if in office hours (or, if after office hours, before ten o'clock next morning), to those offices interested in the fire, and also to their surveyors of buildings and stock, as soon as possible after the fire is extinguished, and causes a daily report to be transmitted to each office of all fires which have happened, according to a printed form given to him for that purpose, as follows:-- Date and hour. Situation of premises. Name and occupation of tenant. Name and residence of landlord. Supposed cause of fire. In what offices insured. No. of Policy. If there is gas on the premises. By whom called. By whom extinguished. Supply of water, with name of company. No. of engines attending and of what district, and the order in which they arrive. No. of men ditto ditto. Engines not of the Establishment, and the order in which they arrive. Description of damage. DUTIES OF FOREMAN. The Foreman resides at the place appointed for him. He receives his orders and instructions from, and makes his reports to, the superintendent. He must set an example to the men of alacrity and skill in the discharge of his duty, and of regularity in his general behaviour. In the absence of the superintendent, the foreman of the district will take the command of the whole force, both those of his own district and of all other engines and men which may come to his assistance in cases of fire. He does not attend fires that happen out of his own district unless he receives orders from the superintendent to that effect. He endeavours to ascertain the cause of the fire, and reports the same to the superintendent. On the alarm of fire being given in his own district, he instantly repairs to the spot, and uses his utmost endeavours to get the engines into play and supply them with water. The first engine and firemen which arrive at a fire are not interfered with, nor their supplies of water diverted from them, by those coming afterwards, unless by a distinct order from the superintendent, or, in his absence, from the foreman of the district. The same rule applies to each succeeding engine which takes up a position. He is careful to place the engines in such a manner that the men who work at the levers may be in no danger from the falling of the premises on fire; and also that the engines may not be in the way of people carrying out furniture, &c.; but, above all things, he endeavours to place the engineers with their branch pipes in such positions _that the water from the branches may directly strike the burning materials_. This he cannot too often inculcate on the men placed under him, as upon this point, on being properly attended to, depends entirely the effect of the engines. To attain this most desirable end, it is frequently necessary to enter the premises on fire, and the foreman takes care so to place his men that they can easily escape. If he has reason to suspect that the building is not sufficiently secure, he stations one or two competent men to observe the state of the building, and to give the alarm when they see any danger. He never allows any man unaccompanied by another to enter a building on fire. He does not throw more water on the premises than is absolutely necessary to extinguish the fire, as all the water thrown after the fire is extinguished, only tends to increase the damage. When the inmates of the premises on fire are removed, the foreman endeavours to exclude air from the parts on fire, by shutting all doors and windows as far as may be practicable. He is responsible for the conduct of the men placed under him, and for the state of the engines, which must at all times be kept in first-rate order; he also makes himself well acquainted with the talent and general character of each individual under him. He visits every engine-house in his district at least once in the twenty-four hours; he sees that the men are on duty, the engines ready for service, and everything in proper order, and enters his visit in a book kept for that purpose, with the date and hour of his visit. If he finds anything wrong, he enters it in the book, and immediately sends off a report to the superintendent by one of the men not on duty. He sends a written report twice in every twenty-four hours to the superintendent, which contains a particular statement of all fires and everything else connected with the Establishment which has occurred in his district within the preceding twelve hours. He returns in his report of a fire the names of such men, if any, as were not ready to start with the engine to which they are attached. It is expected that he is able and ready to give instructions to the engineers and men on all points relating to their duty. He receives and enters, in a book kept for that purpose, all complaints which may be made against any person under his command, causing the complaining party to sign the same and insert his address, and he reports the whole matter without delay to the superintendent. He is responsible for the engines in his district being each provided with the articles contained in the following list:-- 2 lengths of scaling ladder. 1 canvas sheet, with 10 or 12 handles of rope round the edge of it, used as a portable fire-escape. 2 pieces of 2-1/2-inch rope, one 10 fathoms and one 14 fathoms long. 7 lengths of hose, each 40 feet long. 2 branch pipes, one 4 and the other 1 foot long. 3 nozzles, or jet pipes. 4 lengths of suction-pipe, each about 6 feet long. 1 flat rose. 1 standcock. 1 goose-neck. 2 balls of strips of sheep-skin. 2 balls of small cord. 4 hose wrenches. 1 fire hook. 1 mattock. 1 shovel. 1 saw. 1 screw-wrench. 1 portable cistern. 1 hatchet or pole-axe. 1 iron crow-bar. DUTIES OF THE ENGINEER. He resides in the engine-house to which he is appointed. He obeys all orders given to him by the superintendent or the foreman of the district. He must set an example to the men of alacrity and skill in the discharge of his duty, and of regularity in his general behaviour. He is held responsible for the conduct of the men under him, and for the state of his engine, and takes care that it is provided with the articles contained in the foregoing list. He reports to his foreman, every morning and evening, in writing, whether any of his men have been absent with or without leave. He enters in his book the time when the men go to the foreman's station before taking duty, and also when they return. On receiving notice of a fire happening within the prescribed limits, he instantly takes his engine and men to the spot, and places himself and them at the disposal of the superintendent, foreman, or senior engineer of the district in which the fire happens. He must make himself acquainted with the character and abilities of each man under him. He is subject to fines at the discretion of the Committee, for neglect of duty or misbehaviour. DUTIES OF SUB-ENGINEERS. The sub-engineers being attached to foremen's and double stations only, in the absence of the foremen or engineer, or when in charge of an engine, the duties of the sub-engineer are the same as those described for an engineer; when the foreman or engineer is absent, the sub-engineer must set an example to the firemen at the station of constant attention, implicit obedience and activity, and in so far as he exhibits these and similar qualifications he expects to rise in the service. DUTIES OF THE FIREMAN. Every fireman in the establishment may expect to rise to the superior stations, by activity, intelligence, sobriety, and general good conduct. He must make it his study to recommend himself to notice by a diligent discharge of his duties, and strict obedience to the commands of his superiors, recollecting that he who has been accustomed to obey will be considered best qualified to command. He resides near the engine-house to which he is attached, in a situation to be approved of, and devotes the whole of his time and abilities to the service. On the alarm of fire, he proceeds with all possible speed to the engine-house to which he is attached. He must at all times appear neat in his person, and correctly dressed in the establishment uniform, and be respectful in his demeanour towards his superiors. He must readily and punctually obey the orders of the engineers, foremen, and superintendent. He must not quit his engine-house while on duty, except to go to a fire, unless by special order from a superior. He is subject to fines for neglect of duty or misbehaviour, according to the regulations. BOOKS KEPT AT THE STATIONS. There is a book kept in each engine-house, in which are entered all fires or alarms of fires; the time the men come on duty; the visits made by the foremen, superintendent, or any of the Committee, and all complaints against the men. This book is in charge of the superior on duty at the time; and the foreman and engineers are answerable for its being correctly kept. Every entry made in this book is signed by the person making it. The superintendent enters, in a book kept for that purpose, the particulars of every fire, the attendance of engines, supply of water, &c., and lays it before the Committee weekly, or oftener, if required. Any false entry, for the purpose of concealing absence, is punished--for the first offence, by the reduction of one step, and for the second by dismissal. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote F: At a fire which took place in one of the best streets in Edinburgh, and which began in the roof, the persons who rushed into the house on the first alarm being given, threw the greater part of the contents of the drawing-room and library, with several basketsful of china and glass, out of the windows; the fire injured nothing below the uppermost story.] THE EDINBURGH FIRE BRIGADE. In forming the brigade in Edinburgh, where the firemen are only occasionally employed, the description of men, from which I made a selection, were slaters, house-carpenters, masons, plumbers, and smiths. Slaters make good firemen, not so much from their superiority in climbing, going along roofs, &c., although these are great advantages, but from their being in general possessed of a handiness and readiness which I have not been able to discover in the same degree amongst other classes of workmen. It is, perhaps, not necessary that I should account for this, but it appears to me to arise from their being more dependent on their wits, and more frequently put to their shifts in the execution of their ordinary avocations. House-carpenters and masons being well acquainted with the construction of buildings, and understanding readily from whence danger is to be apprehended, can judge with tolerable accuracy, from the appearance of a house, where the stair is situated, and how the house is divided inside. Plumbers are also well accustomed to climbing and going along the roofs of houses; they are useful in working fire-cocks, covering the gratings of drains with lead, and generally in the management of water. Smiths and plumbers can also better endure heat and smoke than most other workmen. Men selected from these five trades are also more robust in body, and better able to endure the extremes of heat, cold, wet, and fatigue, to which firemen are so frequently exposed, than men engaged in more sedentary employments. I have generally made it a point to select for firemen, young men from seventeen or eighteen to twenty-five years of age. At that age they enter more readily into the spirit of the business, and are much more easily trained, than when farther advanced in life. Men are frequently found who, although they excel in the mechanical parts of their own professions, are yet so devoid of judgment and resources, that when anything occurs which they have not been taught, or have not been able to foresee, they are completely at a loss. Now it happens not unfrequently that the man who arrives first at a fire, notwithstanding any training or instructions he may have received, is still, from the circumstances of the case, left almost entirely to the direction of his own judgment. It is, therefore, of immense importance to procure men on whose coolness and judgment you can depend. If they are expert tradesmen, so much the better, as there is generally a degree of respect shown to first-rate tradesmen by their fellows, which inferior hands can seldom obtain; and this respect tends greatly to keep up the character of the corps to which they belong, which ought never to be lost sight of. Amidst the noise and confusion which more or less attend all fires, I have found considerable difficulty in being able to convey the necessary orders to the firemen in such a manner as not to be liable to misapprehension. I tried a speaking-trumpet; but, finding it of no advantage, it was speedily abandoned. It appeared to me indeed, that while it increased the sound of the voice, by the deep tone which it gave, it brought it into greater accordance with the surrounding noise. I tried a boatswain's call, which I have found to answer much better. Its shrill piercing note is so unlike any other sound usually heard at a fire, that it immediately attracts the attention of the firemen. By varying the calls, I have now established a mode of communication not easily misunderstood, and sufficiently precise for the circumstances to which it is adapted, and which I now find to be a very great convenience. The calls are as follows:-- 1 for red, 2 for blue, 3 for yellow, 4 for grey.[G] 5 to work the engine. 6 to stop working. 7 to attach one length of hose more than the engine has at the time the call is given. 8 to coil up the hose attached to the engine. 9 to coil up the hose attached to the fire-cock. 10 to turn to the left. 11 to turn to the right. 12 the call to work the engine answers also to move forward when the engine is prepared for travelling. 13 the call to stop working answers to stop the engine when moving forward. In all there are thirty-six calls when compounded with the first four. In speaking of the drilling of firemen, I shall give a short account of the plan followed here, which has been tolerably successful. The present number of firemen in Edinburgh is fifty, divided into four companies; three of which consist of twelve and one of fourteen men. The bounds of the city are divided into four districts; in each of which there is an engine-house, containing one or more engines, one of the companies being attached to each engine-house. In each company there is one captain, one sergeant, four pioneers, and six or eight firemen. The whole are dressed in blue jackets, canvas trousers, and hardened leather helmets, having hollow leather crests over the crown to ward off falling materials. The form of this helmet was taken from the war-helmet of the New Zealanders, with the addition of the hind flap of leather to prevent burning matter, melted lead, water, or rubbish getting into the neck of the wearer. The captains' helmets have three small ornaments, those of the sergeants one--those of the pioneers and firemen being plain. The jackets of the captains have two small cloth wings on the shoulder, similar to those worn by light infantry. Those of the sergeants have three stripes on the left arm, and, on the left arms of the pioneers and firemen, are their respective numbers in the company. Each company has a particular colour--red, blue, yellow, and grey. Each engine is painted of one or other of these colours, and the accoutrements of the men belonging to it correspond. There is thus no difficulty in distinguishing the engines or men from each other by their colours and numbers. Each man also wears a broad leather waist-belt, with a brass buckle in front. To the waist-belts of the captains, sergeants, and pioneers is attached eighty feet of cord; the captains having also a small mason's hammer, with a crow-head at the end of the handle: the sergeants have a clawed hammer, such as is used by house-carpenters, with an iron handle, and two openings at the end for unscrewing nuts from bolts; the pioneers a small hatchet, with a crow-head at the end of the handle; and the firemen each carry a canvas water-bucket folded up. The captains assemble every Tuesday night, to give in a report of such fires as may have occurred in their respective districts, with a list of the men who have turned out, and a corresponding list from the sergeant of police of the respective districts. They then receive any orders which may be necessary; and any vacancies which have occurred in the establishment are filled up at these meetings. For some months after this fire establishment was organized, the men were regularly drilled once a week, at four o'clock in the morning; but now only once a month at the same hour. Among many other good reasons for preferring this early hour, I may mention, that it does not interfere with the daily occupation of the firemen. The chance of collecting a crowd is also avoided, as there are then comparatively few people on the streets; this is a matter of some importance, as a crowd of people not only impedes the movements of the firemen, but, from small quantities of water spilt on the by-standers, quarrels are generated, and a prejudice excited against the corps, to avoid which every exertion should be used to keep the firemen on good terms with the populace. The mornings, too, at this early hour, are dark for more than half the year, and the firemen are thus accustomed to work by torch-light, and sometimes without any light whatever, except the few public lamps which are then burning. And, as most fires happen in the night, the advantage of drilling in the dark must be sufficiently obvious. The inhabitants have sometimes complained of being disturbed with the noise of the engines at so early an hour; but when the object has been explained, they have generally submitted, with a good grace, to this slight evil. A different part of the city being always chosen for each successive drill, the annoyance occasioned to any one district is very trifling, and of very unfrequent occurrence. On the Tuesday evening preceding the drill, the captains are informed when and where the men are to assemble. These orders they communicate to the individual firemen. A point of rendezvous being thus given to the whole body, every man, who is not on the spot at the hour appointed, fully equipped, with his clothes and accoutrements in good order, is subjected to a fine. Arrived on the ground, the men are divided into two parties, each party consisting of two companies, that being the number required to work each large engine without any assistance from the populace. The whole are then examined as to the condition of their clothing and equipments. The captains, sergeants, and pioneers of each company alternately take the duty of directing the engine, attaching the hose, &c., while the whole of each party not engaged in these duties take the levers as firemen. The call is then given to move forward, the men setting off at a quick walking pace, and, on the same call being repeated, they get into a smart trot. When the call to stop is given, with orders to attach one or more lengths of hose to the engine and fire-cock, it is done in the following manner:--No. 1 takes out the branch pipe, and runs out as far as he thinks the hose ordered to be attached will reach, and there remains; No. 2 takes a length of hose out of the engine, and uncoils it towards No. 1; and No. 3 attaches the hose to the engine. If more than one length is required, No. 4 takes out another, couples it to the former length, and then uncoils it. If a third length is wanted, No. 3 comes up with it, after having attached the first length to the engine. If more lengths are still wanted, No: 2 goes back to the engine for another; Nos. 3 and 4 follow, and so on till the requisite length is obtained; No. 1 then screws on the branch-pipe at the farther extremity of the last length.[H] While Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 are attaching the hose to the engine, No. 5 opens the fire-cock door, screws on the distributor, and attaches the length of hose, which No. 6 uncoils; Nos. 7 and 8 assist, if more than one length of hose be required. Immediately on the call being given to attach the hose, the sergeant locks the fore-carriage of the engine, and unlocks the levers. The fire-cock being opened by No. 5 (who remains by it as long as it is being used), the sergeant holds the end of the hose which supplies the engine, and at the same time superintends the men who work the levers. The call being given to work the engine, the whole of the men, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, the captain and sergeant excepted, work at the levers along with the men of the other company. Although these operations may appear complicated, they are all completed, and the engine in full play, with three lengths, or 120 feet of hose, in one minute and ten seconds, including the time required for the water to fill the engine so far as to allow it to work. In order to excite a spirit of emulation, as well as to teach the men dexterity in working the engines, I frequently cause a competition amongst them. They are ordered to attach one or more lengths of hose to each of two engines, and to work them as quickly as possible, the first engine which throws water being considered the winner. They are sometimes also placed at an equal distance from each of two separate fire-cocks; on the call being given to move forward, each party starts for the fire-cock to which it is ordered, and the first which gets into play is of course held to have beat the other. The call to stop is then given, and both parties return to their former station, with their hose coiled up, and everything in proper travelling order; the first which arrives being understood to have the advantage. The men are also carefully and regularly practised in taking their hose up common-stairs, drawing them up by ropes on the outside, and generally in accustoming themselves to, and providing against, every circumstance which may be anticipated in the case of fire. When a fire occurs in a common-stair, the advantages arising from this branch of training are incalculable. The occupants, in some cases amounting to twenty or thirty families, hurrying out with their children and furniture, regardless of everything except the preservation of their lives and property, and the rush of the crowd to the scene of alarm, form altogether, notwithstanding the exertions of an excellent police, such a scene of confusion as those only who have witnessed it can imagine; and here it is that discipline and unity of purpose are indispensable; for, unless each man has already been taught and accustomed to the particular duty expected from him, he only partakes of the general alarm, and adds to the confusion. But even when a hose has been carried up the interior of a common-stair, the risk of damage from the people carrying out their furniture is so great, that the hose is not unfrequently burst, almost as soon as the engine has begun to play. If the hose be carried up to the floor on fire by the outside, the risk of damage is comparatively small, the hose in that case being only exposed for a short distance in crossing the stair. During a period of four years the only two firemen who lost their lives were run down by their own engines; and, in order to avoid danger from this cause, they are frequently accustomed suddenly to stop the engines when running down the steep streets with which this city abounds. It is a highly necessary exercise, and is done by wheeling the engine smartly round to the right or left, which has the effect of immediately stopping its course. There is a branch of training which I introduced amongst the Edinburgh firemen some time ago, which has been attended with more important advantages than was at first anticipated. I mean the gymnastic exercises. The men are practised in these exercises (in a small gymnasium fitted up for them in the head engine-house) regularly once a-week, and in winter sometimes twice: attendance on their part is entirely voluntary; the best gymnasts (if otherwise equally qualified) are always promoted in cases of vacancy. So sensible were the Insurance Companies doing business here, of the advantages likely to arise from the practice of these exercises, that on one occasion they subscribed upwards of 10_l._, which was distributed in medals and money among the most expert and attentive gymnasts of the corps, at a competition in presence of the magistrates, commissioners of police, and managers of insurance companies. Amongst the many advantages arising from these exercises I shall notice only one or two. The firemen, when at their ordinary employments, as masons, house-carpenters, &c., being accustomed to a particular exercise of certain muscles only, there is very often a degree of stiffness in their general movements, which prevents them from performing their duty as firemen with that ease and celerity which are so necessary and desirable; but the gymnastic exercises, by bringing all the muscles of the body into action, and by aiding the more general development of the frame, tend greatly to remove or overcome this awkwardness. But its greatest advantage is the confidence it gives to the men when placed in certain situations of danger. A man, for example, in the third or fourth floor of a house on fire, who is uncertain as to his means of escape, in the event of his return by the stair being cut off, will not render any very efficient service in extinguishing the fire; his own safety will be the principal object of his attention, and till that is to a certain extent secured, his exertions are not much to be relied upon. An experienced gymnast, on the other hand, placed in these circumstances, finds himself in comparative security. With a hatchet and eighty feet of cord at his command, and a window near him, he knows there is not much difficulty in getting to the street; and this confidence not only enables him to go on with his duty with more spirit, but his attention not being abstracted by thoughts of personal danger, he is able to direct it wholly to the circumstances of the fire. He can raise himself on a window sill, or the top of a wall, if he can only reach it with his hands; and by his hands alone he may sustain himself in situations where other means of support are unattainable, till the arrival of assistance. These are great advantages; but, as I said before, the greatest of all is that feeling of safety with which it enables a fireman to proceed with his operations, uncertainty or distraction being the greatest of possible evils. The cord carried at the waist-belt of the captains, sergeants, and pioneers, being fully sufficient to sustain a man's weight, and with the assistance of their small hatchets easily made fast, and the pioneers always being two together, there is thus no difficulty in descending even from a height of eighty feet: the cords should be doubled by way of security. I.--GENERAL REGULATIONS OF THE EDINBURGH FIRE BRIGADE. A list of the engine-houses, and the residences of the superintendent and head enginemen in each district shall be publicly advertised, that no one may be ignorant where to apply in cases of fire; and, in the event of fire breaking out in any house, the possessor shall be bound to give instant notice of it at the nearest station; and shall take particular care to keep all doors and windows shut in the premises where the fire happens to be. "Fire-engine house" shall be painted in large characters on one or more prominent places of each engine-house; and the residences of the master of engines, head enginemen, inspectors of gas companies, and water-officers of the district, shall likewise be marked there. The head enginemen and firemen shall reside as near the engine-house as possible. As, in the case of a fire breaking out, it may be necessary to break open the doors of houses and shops in the neighbourhood, in order to prevent the fire from spreading, it is ordered, that no possessors of houses or shops in the neighbourhood shall go away, after the fire has broken out, without leaving the key of their house or shop, as otherwise the door will be broken open, if necessary; and it is recommended that all possessors of shops shall have the place of their residence painted upon their shop-doors, that notice may be sent them when necessary. II.--POLICE. Upon any watchman discovering fire, he shall call the neighbouring watchmen to his assistance--shall take the best means in his power to put all concerned upon their guard--and shall immediately send off notice to the nearest office and engine-house. The watchman, who is despatched to give these intimations, shall run as far as he can, and shall then send forward any other watchman whom he may meet, he himself following at a walk to communicate his information, in case of any mistake on the part of the second messenger. Upon intimation of a fire being received at the main office, or a district office, the head officer on duty shall instantly give notice thereof to the head engineman of the district, to the master of engines, to the water-officers of the district, and to the inspectors of the different gas-light companies, and shall have power, if his force at the office at the time be deficient, to employ the nearest watchmen for these purposes; and, on intimation being first received at a district-office, the officer on duty in the office shall immediately send notice to the main office. Upon intimation being received at the main office, the officer on duty shall also instantly send notice to the superintendent of police, and the lieutenants not at the office at the time--to the master of engines; to the head enginemen of the various districts; to the superintendent of the water company; to the lord provost or chief magistrate for the time; to the sheriff of the county; to the bailie residing nearest the place; to the dean of guild; to the members of fire-engine committee of commissioners of police; to the moderator of the high constables; and also to the managers of the different gaslight companies. The officer on duty at the main office shall, with the least possible delay, send off to the fire a party of his men, under the command of a lieutenant or other officer. This party, on arriving at the spot, shall clear off the crowd, and keep open space and passages for the firemen and others employed. The officer commanding this party of the police shall attend to no instructions except such as he shall receive from the acting chief magistrate attending; or, in absence of a magistrate, from any member of the committee on fire-engines; and the men shall attend to the instructions of their own officer alone. Three or more policemen shall be in attendance upon the acting chief magistrate and fire-engine committee; two policemen shall constantly attend the master of the engines, to be at his disposal entirely; and one policeman shall attend with the water-officer at each fire-cock that may be opened. The superintendent of police shall always have a list of extra policemen hung up in the police-office, who, upon occasions of fire, may be called out, if necessary, and twenty of these extra men shall always be called out upon notice of fire being received at the main office, for the purpose of attending at the police-office, and rendering assistance where it may be required. The superintendent shall likewise have a supply of fire-buckets, flambeaux, and lanterns, at the office, to be ready when wanted. There shall be no ringing of alarm-bells, beating of drums, or springing of rattles, except by written order from the chief magistrate for the time; but the alarm may be given by despatching messengers, with proper badges, through different parts of the town, when considered necessary. III. SUPERINTENDENT OF FIRE BRIGADE. On receiving notice of a fire, the superintendent shall instantly equip himself in his uniform, and repair to the spot where the fire is. The necessary operations to be adopted shall be under his absolute control, and he will issue his instructions to the head enginemen and firemen. The superintendent shall report from time to time to the chief magistrate in attendance (through such medium as may be at his command, but without his leaving the spot), the state of the fire, and whether a greater number of policemen, or a party of the military, be required, and anything else which may occur to him; and the master shall observe the directions of the chief magistrate attending, and those of no other person whatever. The superintendent shall frequently inspect the engines, and all the apparatus connected therewith; he shall be responsible for the whole being at all times in good order and condition; and he shall have a general muster and inspection at least once every three months, when the engines and all the apparatus shall be tried. He shall also instruct the enginemen, firemen, and the watchmen, to unlock the plates, and screw on the distributors of the fire-cocks, or open the fire-plugs. Whenever any repairs or new apparatus shall appear to be necessary, the superintendent shall give notice to the clerk of the police, whose duty it shall be instantly to convene the committee on fire-engines. Upon a fire breaking out, the superintendent shall lose as little time as possible in stationing chimney-sweepers on the roofs of the adjoining houses, to keep them clear of flying embers; and also persons in each flat of the adjoining houses, to observe their state, and report if any appearances of danger should arise; such persons taking as much care as possible _to keep all doors and windows of said flats shut_, and the doors and windows of the premises where the fire happens to be shall, so far as practicable, be carefully kept shut. The superintendent shall forthwith prepare regulations for the firemen, &c., under his charge, and report the same to the committee on fire-engines for their approval. Every fireman shall be furnished with a copy of such regulations, and shall be bound to make himself master of its contents; and it shall be the duty of the superintendent to see that the instructions are duly attended to in training and exercising the men. IV.--HEAD ENGINEMEN. Each head engineman shall attend to the engines placed in his district, and all the apparatus connected therewith, and report to the superintendent when any repairs or new apparatus seem requisite, and shall be responsible for the engines being in proper working condition at all times. Upon receiving notice of a fire, the head enginemen shall call out the firemen in their respective districts; and they shall all repair, perfectly equipped, with the utmost expedition, to the spot where the fire happens to be, carrying along with them the engines and apparatus. The head enginemen shall have the carts and barrels attached to their several districts always in readiness, in good order, and the barrels filled with water, which shall accompany the engines to the fire. On arriving at the spot, the head enginemen shall take their instructions from the superintendent, or, in his absence, from the chief magistrate in attendance on the spot; or, in their absence, from a member of the fire-engine committee, and from no other person whatever. V.--FIREMEN. The firemen shall attend at all times when required by the head enginemen or superintendent, as well as upon the days of general inspection. They shall keep their engines in good order and condition, and shall be equipped in their uniform at all times when called out. They shall observe the instructions of no person whatever, except those of the superintendent or head enginemen. VI.--HIGH CONSTABLES AND COMMISSIONERS OF POLICE. Upon occasions of fire, the moderator of the high constables shall call out the high constables, and, if necessary, he shall also call out the extra constables, and give notice to call out the constables of their districts; and it shall be the duty of the constables to preserve order and to protect property, to keep the crowd away from the engines, and those employed about them; and, when authorized by the chief magistrate, superintendent of engines, or, in the absence of a magistrate, by a member of the committee on fire-engines, to provide men for working the engines. Neither the constables nor the commissioners of police shall assume any management, or give any directions whatsoever, except in absence of a magistrate and the superintendent of engines, in which case any member of the committee on fire-engines may give orders to the head enginemen. In cases of protracted fire, when extra men may be required to relieve the regular establishment, it shall be the duty of the high constables to collect those wanted, from amongst the persons on the street who may be willing to lend their assistance, mustering them in such parties as may be required, taking a note of their names, and furnishing each individual with a certificate or ticket, with which the moderator of the high constables, or chief constable at the time, will be supplied; and no person shall receive any remuneration for alleged assistance given at a fire who may not produce such certificate or ticket. The party or parties so mustered shall be placed and continue under the care of two high constables, until required for service, when they shall be moved forward to the engine. The men relieved by the party so moved forward, shall be taken charge of by two high constables, who shall see them properly refreshed and brought back within a reasonable time, so that the men employed may thus occasionally relieve each other without confusion, and without being too much exhausted. VII.--MAGISTRATES, &c. Upon occasion of fires, the magistrates, sheriff, moderator of the high constables, the superintendent of the water company, the managers of the different gas-light companies, and the fire-engine committee, will give their attendance. They will assemble in such house nearest to the place of the fire as can be procured, of which notice shall be immediately given to the officer commanding the police on the spot. The orders of the chief magistrate in attendance shall be immediately obeyed; and no order, except those issued by such magistrate, and the particular directions given as to the fire and engine department by the master of engines, or, in their absence, by a member of the fire-engine committee on the spot, shall be at all attended to. The magistrates and sheriff further declare, that all porters holding badges shall be bound to give their attendance at fires when called upon for that purpose. VIII.--GAS-LIGHT COMPANIES. The managers of the different gas-light companies, on receiving notice of a fire, shall instantly take measures for turning off the gas from all shops and houses in the immediate neighbourhood of the fire. IX.--SPECIAL REGULATIONS FOR THE FIREMEN. _Captains._--On the alarm of fire being given, an engine must be immediately despatched from the main office to whatever district the fire may be in; and the captain in whose district the fire happens shall bring his engine to the spot as quickly as possible, taking care that none of the apparatus is awanting. On arriving at the spot, he must take every means in his power to supply his engine with water, but especially by a service-pipe from a fire-cock, if that be found practicable. Great care must be taken to place the engine so that it may be in the direction of the water, with sufficient room on all sides to work it, but as little in the way of persons employed in carrying out furniture, &c., as possible. He must also examine the fire while the men are fixing the hose, &c., that the water may be directed with the best effect. The captains shall be responsible for any misconduct of their men, when they fail to report such misconduct to the superintendent. The engines must be at all times in good working order, and the captain shall report to the superintendent when any part of the apparatus is in need of repair. When the fire is in another district, the captain of each engine shall get his men and engine ready to proceed at a moment's notice, but must not move from his engine-house till a special order arrives from a lieutenant of police or the superintendent of brigade. _Sergeants._--The sergeant of each engine will take the command in absence of the captain. When the captain is present, the sergeant will give him all possible assistance in conducting the engine to the fire; and it will there be more particularly the sergeant's duty to see that the engine is supplied with water, and that every man is at his proper station, and to remain with his engine while on duty, whether it is working or not, unless he receives special orders to the contrary. _Pioneers._--Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 of each engine will be considered pioneers. Nos. 1 and 2 will proceed to the fire immediately, without going to their engine-house, in order to prepare for the arrival of the first engine, by ascertaining and clearing a proper station for it, and by making ready the most available supplies of water, as also to examine the state of the premises on fire and the neighbouring ones, so as to be able to give such information to the captain on his arrival as may enable him to apply his force with the greatest effect. _The pioneers will attend particularly to the excluding of air from the parts on fire by every means in their power, and they will ascertain whether there are any communications with the adjoining house by the roof, gable, or otherwise._ When the several engines arrive, the pioneers will fall in with their own company, and take their farther orders from the captain or sergeant. _Firemen._--On the alarm of fire being given, the whole company belonging to each engine (Nos. 1 and 2 excepted) shall assemble as speedily as possible at their engine-house, and act with spirit under the orders of their officers in getting everything ready for service. Each man will get a ticket with his own number and the colour of his engine marked upon it; and on all occasions when he comes on duty he will give this ticket into the hands of a policeman, who will be appointed by the officer of police on duty to collect them at each engine-house, and who will accompany the engine if it is ordered to the fire. If the ticket be not given in, as before provided, within half an hour after the alarm is given at their engine-house, or at all events, within half an hour after the arrival of the engine at the fire, the defaulter will forfeit the allowance for turning out, and also the first hour's pay. If not given in within the first hour, he will forfeit all claim to pay. The superintendent, however, may do away the forfeiture in any of these cases, on cause being shown to his satisfaction. On quarter-days and days of exercise, every man must be ready equipped at the appointed hour, otherwise he will forfeit that day's pay, or such part of it as the superintendent may determine. Any man destroying his equipments, or wearing them when off duty, will be punished by fine or dismissal from the service, as the superintendent may determine. Careless conduct, irregular attendance at exercise, or disobedience of superior officers, to be punished as above-mentioned. The man who arrives first at the engine-house to which he belongs, _properly equipped_, will receive three shillings over and above the pay for turning out. The first of the Nos. 1 and 2 who arrives at the fire, _properly equipped_, in whatever district it may be, will receive three shillings over and above the pay for turning out. No pay will be allowed for a false alarm, unless the same is given by a policeman. As nothing is so hurtful to the efficiency of an establishment for extinguishing fires as unnecessary noise, irregularity, or insubordination, it is enjoined on all to observe quietness and regularity, to execute readily whatever orders they may receive from their officers, and to do nothing without orders. The first engine and company which arrive at the fire are not to be interfered with, nor their supplies of water diverted from them by those coming afterwards, unless by a distinct order from the superintendent, or, in his absence, from the chief magistrate on the spot. The same rule will apply to each succeeding engine which takes up a station. The men must be careful not to allow their attention to be distracted from their duty by listening to directions from any persons _except their own officers_; and they will refer every one who applies to them for aid to the superintendent, or to the chief magistrate present at the time. All the firemen must be particularly careful to let the policemen on their respective stations know where they live, and take notice when the policeman is changed, that they may give the new one the requisite information. The men are particularly cautioned not to take spirituous liquors from any individual without the special permission of the captain of their engine, who will see that every proper and necessary refreshment be afforded to them; and as intoxication upon such alarming occasions is not merely disreputable to the corps, but in the highest degree dangerous, by rendering the men unfit for their duty, every appearance of it will be most rigidly marked; and any man who may be discovered in that state shall not only forfeit his whole allowances for the turn-out and duty performed, but will be forthwith dismissed from the corps. All concerned are strictly enjoined to preserve their presence of mind, not to lose temper, and upon no occasion whatsoever to give offence to the inhabitants by making use of uncivil language or behaving rudely. *** Every one belonging to the establishment will be furnished with a printed copy of these Regulations, which they are enjoined carefully to preserve and _read over at least once every week_. MEANS OF ESCAPE FROM FIRE. [The following was written in the year 1830, and does not refer to Public Fire-Escapes other than those that can be carried with a Fire-Engine.--EDITOR.] When the lower floors of a house are on fire, and the stairs or other ordinary means of retreat destroyed, the simplest and easiest mode of removing the inhabitants from the upper floors, is by a ladder placed against the wall. In order to be able at all times to carry this plan into effect, the person having charge of the engines should (as far as possible) inform himself where long ladders are to be had, and how they can most easily be removed. But if a ladder of sufficient length is not to be procured, or is at too great a distance to render it safe to wait for it, recourse must immediately be had to other means. If it happens that the windows above are all inaccessible, on account of the flames bursting through those below, the firemen should immediately get on the roof (by means of the adjoining houses,) and descend by the hatch. The hatch, however, being sometimes directly above the stair, is in that case very soon affected by the fire and smoke. If, on approaching, it is found to be so much so as to render an entrance in that way impracticable, the firemen should instantly break through the roof, and, descending into the upper floors, extricate those within. If it should happen, however, that the persons in danger are not in the upper floor, and cannot reach it in consequence of the stair being on fire, the firemen should continue breaking through floor after floor till they reach them. In so desperate a case as this the shorter process may probably be to break through the party-wall between the house on fire and that adjoining, when there is one; and when there is no house immediately contiguous, through the gable, taking care in either case to break through at the back of a closet, press, chimney, or other recess, where the wall is thinnest. If an opening has been made from the adjoining house, it should immediately (after having served the purpose for which it was made) be built up with brick or stone, to prevent the fire spreading. All these operations should be performed by slaters, masons, or house-carpenters, who, being better acquainted with such work, are likely to execute it in a shorter time than others--time, in such a case, being everything, as a few minutes lost may cost the lives of the whole party. It is not impossible, however, that circumstances may occur to render all or either of these plans impracticable; in that case, one or two of the lower windows must be darkened, and by this means access gained to the upper ones. The plan recommended by the Parisian firemen is, for a man to wrap himself up in a wet blanket, and thus pass swiftly through the flames. But this effort is only to be attempted when the flames from a single door are to be passed; in any other case the stair will most likely be in flames, and impassable. A simple means of escape from fire is to have an iron ring fastened to the window sill, and inside of the room a cradle, with a coil of rope attached to it. The rope is put through the ring, and the person wishing to escape gets into the cradle, and lowers himself down by passing the rope through his hands. The great objection to this plan, which is certainly very simple, is the difficulty, or rather impossibility, of persuading people to provide themselves with the necessary materials. Many men, too, are incapable of the exertion upon which the whole plan depends; and if men in a state of terror are unfit for such a task, what is to become of women and children? Any fire-escape, to be generally useful, must, in the first place, be capable of being carried about without encumbering the fire-engine; and, in the next place, must be of instant and simple application. The means which appear to me to possess these qualifications in the highest degree, is a combination of the cradle plan, with Captain Manby's admirable invention for saving shipwrecked seamen. The apparatus necessary for this fire-escape is a chain-ladder eighty feet long, a single chain or rope of the same length as the ladder, a canvas bag, a strong steel cross-bow, and a fine cord of the very best workmanship and materials, 130 feet long, with a lead bullet of three-ounce weight attached to one end, and carefully wound upon a wooden cone seven inches high and seven inches broad at the base, turned with a spiral groove, to prevent the cord slipping when wound upon it, also a small pulley with a claw attached to it, and a cord reeved through it of sufficient strength to bear the weight of the ladder. In order to prevent the sides of the ladder from collapsing, the steps are made of copper or iron tube, fastened by a piece of cord passed through the tube and into the links of the chain, till the tube is filled. The steps thus fastened are tied to the chain with copper-wire, so that, in the event of the cord being destroyed, the steps will be retained in their places by the wire. The ladder is provided with two large hooks at one end, for the purpose of fixing it to a roof, window-sill, &c. The bag is of canvas, three feet wide and four feet deep, with cords sewed round the bottom, and meeting at the top, where they are turned over an iron thimble at each side of the mouth of the bag. The steel cross-bow is of the ordinary description, of sufficient strength to throw the lead bullet with the cord attached, 120 feet high. When the house from which the persons in danger are to be extricated is so situated that the firemen can get to the roof by passing along the tops of the adjoining houses, they will carry up the chain-ladder with them, and drop it over the window where the inmates show themselves, fastening the hooks at the same time securely in the roof. The firemen will descend by the ladder into the window, and putting the persons to be removed into the bag, lower them down into the street by the single chain. If the flames are issuing from the windows below, the bag, when filled, is easily drawn aside into the window of the adjoining house, by means of a guy or guide-rope. If the house on fire stands by itself, or if access cannot be had to the roof by means of the adjoining houses, the lead bullet, with the cord attached, is thrown over the house by means of the cross-bow; to this cord a stronger one is attached, and drawn over the house by means of the former; a single chain is then attached, and drawn over in like manner; and to this last is attached the chain-ladder, which, on being raised to the roof, the firemen ascend, and proceed as before directed. If the house be so high that the cord cannot be thrown over far enough to be taken hold of by those on the opposite side, then the persons to be extricated must take hold of the cord, as it hangs past the window at which they may have placed themselves. By means of it they draw up the small pulley, and hook it on the window-sill. The chain-ladder is then made fast to the end of the cord, and drawn up by those below. When the end of the chain-ladder comes in front of the window, the persons inside fasten the hooks of the ladder on its sill, or to the post of a bed, the bars of a grate, or anything likely to afford a sufficient hold. After having ascertained that the ladder is properly fixed, the firemen will ascend and proceed as in the former cases. I must here remark, that before this plan can be properly put in execution, the firemen must be regularly trained to the exercise. When the firemen here are practised with the fire-escape, the man ascending or descending has a strong belt round his middle, to which another chain is fastened, and held by a man stationed at the window for that purpose; if any accident, therefore, were to occur with the chain-ladder, the man cannot fall to the ground, but would be swung by the chain attached to the belt round his body. The men are also frequently practised in ascending and descending by single chains. The firemen here are very fond of the above exercise; the bagging each other seems to amuse them exceedingly.[I] The last resort, in desperate cases, is to leap from the window. When this is to be attempted, mattresses, beds, straw, or other soft substances, should be collected under the window; a piece of carpet or other strong cloth should be held up by ten or twelve stout men. The person in the window may then leap, as nearly as possible, into the centre of the cloth, and if he has sufficient resolution to take a fair leap, he may escape with comparatively little injury.[J] FIRE-ENGINES. In the application of manual power to the working of fire-engines, the principal object is, to apply the greatest aggregate power to the lightest and smallest machine; that is, suppose two engines of the same size and weight, the one with space for 20 men to work throws 60 gallons per minute; and the other, with space for 30 men, throws 80 gallons in the same time; the latter will be the most useful engine, although each man is not able to do so much work as at the former. The reciprocating motion is generally preferred to the rotary for fire-engines. Independent of its being the most advantageous movement, a greater number of men can be employed at an engine of the same size and weight; there is less liability to accident with people unacquainted with the work, and such as are quite ignorant of either mode of working, work more freely at the reciprocating than the rotary motion. To these reasons may be added, the greater simplicity of the machinery. Various sizes of engines, of different degrees of strength and weight, have been tried, and it is found that a fire-engine with two cylinders of 7 inches diameter, and a stroke of 8 inches, can be made sufficiently strong at 17-1/2 cwt. If 4 cwt. be added for the hose and tools, it will be found quite as heavy as two fast horses can manage, for a distance under six miles, with five firemen and a driver. [Illustration: FIG. 1. Fire-Engine used by the London Fire Brigade. Longitudinal section,--with the Levers turned up for travelling.] This size of engine has been adopted by the Board of Admiralty and the Board of Ordnance, and its use is becoming very general. When engines are made larger, it is seldom that the proper proportions are preserved, and they are generally worked with difficulty, and soon fatigue the men at the levers. [Illustration: FIG. 2. Transverse section.] When an engine is large, it not only requires a considerable number of men to work it, but it is not easily supplied with water; and, above all, _it cannot be moved about with that celerity on which, in a fire-engine establishment, everything depends_. When the engine is brought into actual operation, the effect to be produced depends less on the quantity of water thrown than upon its being made actually to strike the burning materials, the force with which it does so, and the steadiness with which the engine is worked. If the water be steadily directed upon the burning materials, the effect even of a small quantity is astonishing. When a large engine is required in London, two with 7-inches cylinders are worked together by means of a connecting screw, thus making a jet very nearly equal (as 98 to 100) to that of an engine with cylinders 10 inches diameter. It is also an advantage not unworthy of consideration, that two 7-inch engines may be had nearly for the price of one 10-inch one; so that if one happens to be rendered unserviceable the other may still be available. The usual rate of working an engine of the size described is 40 strokes of each cylinder per minute; this gives 88 gallons. The number of men required to keep steadily at work for three or four hours is 26; upwards of 30 men are sometimes put on when a great length of hose is necessary. The lever is in the proportion of 4-1/4 to 1. With 40 feet of leather hose and a 7/8 inch jet, the pressure is 30 lb. on the square inch; this gives 10.4 lbs. to each man to move a distance of 226 feet in one minute. The friction increases the labour 2-1/2 per cent. for every additional 40 feet of hose, which shows the necessity of having the engine, and of course the supply of water, as close to the fire as is consistent with the safety of the men at the levers. In order that the reader may have a distinct idea of such a fire-engine, I shall here endeavour to give a description, chiefly taken from those made by W. J. Tilley,[K] fire-engine maker, London. The engravings (figs. 1 and 2) represent a fire-engine of 7-inch barrels and 8-inch stroke.[L] The cistern marked A is made of mahogany or oak. The upper work, B, and side-boxes or pockets, C, are of Baltic fir. The sole, D, upon which the barrels stand, and which also contains the valves, is of cast-iron, with covers of the same material, which are screwed down, and the joints made good with leather or india-rubber. The pieces E, at each end of the cast-iron sole D, are of cast brass, and screwed to the cast-iron sole D, with a joint the same as above. In one of these pieces is the screwed suction-cap F, and to the other is attached the air-vessel G, made of sheet-copper, and attached to the piece E by a screw. The exit-pipe H is attached to the under side of the casting E by a swivel. The valves at I are of brass, ground so as to be completely water-tight. The barrels K are of cast brass. The engine is set on four grasshopper springs M. The shafts or handles O, of the levers P, are of lancewood. The box S, under the driving seat, is used for keeping wrenches, cord, &c.; in the fore part of the cistern A, and the box B above the cistern, the hose is kept; the branch and suction-pipes are carried in the side-boxes or pockets C; the rest of the tools and materials are kept along with the above-mentioned articles, in such situations as not to interfere with the working of the engine. The cistern is made of oak or mahogany, for strength and durability; but, for the sake of lightness, the upper work and side-boxes are made of Baltic fir, strength in them being of less importance. As the valve cannot be made without a rise for the lid to strike against, there is a small step at each of the valves, and the sole is carried through as high as this step, to admit of the water running off when the engine is done working. If constructed in a different manner, the water will lodge in the bottom, and produce much inconvenience in situations where the engine is exposed to frost. The valve-covers are of cast-iron, fastened down with copper screws, a piece of leather or india-rubber being placed between them and the upper edges of the sole. The pieces at each end of the sole are of cast-brass, instead of sheet-copper, with soft-solder joints, which are very apt to give way. The screwed suction cap with iron handle admits the water in two different directions, according as it is open or closed: the one to supply the engine when water is drawn from the cistern, the other for drawing water through the suction-pipe. The valves are brass plates, truly ground to fit the circular brass orifice on which they fall. The brass being well ground, no leather is used for the purpose of making them tight. The longer they are used the better they fit, and by having no leather about them they are less liable to the adhesion of small stones or gravel. The whole valve is put together and then keyed into a groove in the sides and bottom of the sole, left for that purpose. The barrels are of cast-brass, with a piston made of two circular pieces of the same metal, each put into a strong leather cup, and bolted to the other. The bottoms of the cups being together, when the piston becomes loose in the barrels, and there is not sufficient time to replace the cups by new ones, they are easily tightened by putting a layer of hemp round the piston between the leather and the brass. This operation, however, requires to be carefully performed; for if more hemp is put into one part than another it is apt to injure the barrels. The barrels are fixed to the cast-iron sole by copper screws, a little red lead being placed between the bottom flange of the barrel and the sole. When the engine is likely to be dragged over rough roads or causeways, it is of importance to have it set on springs, to prevent the jolting from affecting the working part of the engine, everything depending on that being right. The engines used in Paris are mounted on two wheels, the carriage and the engine being separate, the latter being dismounted from the former before it can be used. In Paris, where the engines are managed by a corps of regularly-trained firemen, this may answer well enough; but if hastily or carelessly dismounted by unskilful persons, the engine may be seriously damaged. It is also worthy of remark, that the proper quantity of hose, tools, &c., can be more easily attached to and carried on a four-wheeled engine. In order that the men may work more easily at the handles, and suffer less fatigue, the engine is not higher than to enable them to have the levers easily under their command. The shafts of the levers are of lancewood, being best calculated to bear the strain to which they are exposed when the engine is at work, and they are made to fold up at each end for convenience in travelling. The air-vessel should be placed clear of any other part of the engine, excepting only the point where it is attached. The fore-carriage of the engine is fitted with a pole, and is made to suit the harness of coach-horses, these being, in large towns, more easily procured than other draught cattle; this can be altered, however, to suit such harness as can most readily be obtained. Where horses are seldom used to move the engines, a drag-handle is attached, by which one or two men are able easily to direct the progress of the engine. Two drag-ropes, each twenty-five feet long, of three-inch rope, with ten loops to each, are attached, one to each end of the splinter-bar, by means of which the engines are dragged; and to prevent the loops collapsing on the hand, they are partly lined with sheet-copper. The whole of the brass work of an engine should be of the best gun-metal, composed of copper and tin only. Yellow brass should never be used; even at first it is far inferior to gun-metal, and after being used for some time it gets brittle. The whole of the materials used in the construction of a fire-engine should be of the best description. In London for some years past a hand-pump has been carried with each engine. They have been found of the greatest service in keeping doors, windows, &c., cool. They throw from six to eight gallons per minute, to a height of from thirty to forty feet, and can be used in any position. The idea of the hand-pumps I took from the old-fashioned squirt, or "hand-engine." When fire-engines are unserviceable it arises more frequently from want of care in keeping in order than from any damage they may have received in actual service or by the wearing out of the materials; so it is quite plain that this important part of the duty has not generally had that degree of attention paid to it which it deserves. Although an engine were to be absolutely perfect in its construction, if carelessly thrown aside after being brought home from a fire, and allowed to remain in that state till the next occasion, it would be in vain (especially in small towns, where alarms are rare) to expect to find it in a serviceable condition; some of the parts must have grown stiff, and if brought into action in this state something is likely to give way. When an engine is brought back from a fire, it ought to be immediately washed, the cistern cleaned out, the barrels and journals cleaned and fresh oil put on them, the wheels greased, and every part of the engine carefully cleaned and examined, and if any repairs are needed they should be executed immediately. When all this has been attended to clean hose should be put in, and the engine is again fit for immediate service. Besides this cleaning and examination after use, the engine ought to be examined and the brass part cleaned once a week, and worked with water once a month whether it has been used or not. In addition to the keeping of the engine always in an effective state, this attention has the advantage of reminding the men of their duty, and making them familiar with every part of the mechanism of the engine; thus teaching them effectually how the engines ought to be protected when at work, by enabling them to discover those parts most liable to be damaged, and to which part damage is the most dangerous. It is more troublesome generally to get the engines well kept when there are no fires, than when there are many. But the only effectual method of inducing the men to keep them in good order, in addition to the moral stimulants of censure and applause, is to fine those who have the charge of them for the slightest neglect. When the engine has been properly placed, before beginning to work the fore-carriage should be locked. This is done by putting an iron pin through a piece of wood attached to the cistern, into the fore-carriage. This prevents the wheels from turning round, and coming under the shafts, by which the latter might be damaged, and the hands of the men at work injured. Small stones, gravel, and other obstructions, sometimes find their way into the nozzle of the branch-pipe, from having dropped into the hose before being attached, or having been drawn through the suction-pipe or from the cistern. Whenever the engine is found to work stiffly, it should be stopped and examined, otherwise the pressure may burst the hose, or damage some part of the engine. If anything impedes the action of the valves the pistons must be drawn, and if a person's hand be then introduced they may easily be cleared--constant care and attention to all the minutiæ of the engine and apparatus being absolutely indispensable, if effective service be expected from them. Considerable attention ought to be paid to the selecting a proper situation for an engine-house. Generally speaking, it ought to be central, and on the highest ground of the district it is meant to protect, and care should be taken to observe when any of the streets leading from it are impassable. If, in addition to these advantages, the engine-house can be had adjoining to a police watch-house, it may be considered nearly perfect, in so far as regards situation. These advantages being all attained, the engine can be conveyed to any particular spot by a comparatively small number of men, while the vicinity of a police watch-house affords a facility of communicating the alarm of fire to the firemen not to be obtained otherwise. When the engine-house is placed in a low situation the men who first arrive must wait till the others come forward to assist them to drag the engine up the ascent, and many minutes must thus be lost at a time when moments are important. After choosing a proper situation for the engine-house, the next care should be directed towards having it properly ventilated, as nothing contributes more to the proper keeping of the engines and hose than fresh and dry air. For this purpose a stove should be fitted up, by which the temperature may be kept equal. When engines are exposed to violent alternations of heat and cold, they will be found to operate very considerably on the account for repairs, besides occasioning the danger of the engine being frozen and unserviceable when wanted. There ought to be at least half a dozen keys for each engine-house, which should be kept by the firemen, watchmen, and those connected with the establishment, that the necessity of breaking open the door may not occur. DESCRIPTION OF TOOLS WITH WHICH EACH ENGINE IS PROVIDED. Having considered the sort of fire-engine which is best adapted for general purposes, I shall now notice the different articles which, in London, are always attached to, and accompany, each engine of this kind:-- 7 coils of hose, 40 feet each. 4 bundles of sheepskin and lay-cord. 4 lengths of suction-pipe, each between 6 and 7 feet long. 2 branch pipes. 3 jet pipes or nozzles and an elbow for jet. 3 wrenches for coupling-joints. 2 lamps. 2 lengths of scaling ladder. 1 fire-hook. 60 feet of patent line, and 20 feet of trace line. 1 mattock. 1 shovel. 1 hatchet or pole-axe. 1 saw. 1 iron crow-bar. 1 portable cistern. 1 flat suction strainer. 1 standcock, and hook for street plugs. 1 screw wrench. 1 canvas sheet with 10 or 12 rope handles round its edges. 9 canvas buckets. 1 hand-pump with 10 feet of hose and jet pipe. Of these articles I shall endeavour to give a description as they stand in the above list. The article of hose being first in order, as well as importance, merits particular attention. The sort used is leather, made with copper rivets, and is by far the most serviceable and durable hose that I have yet seen. Manufacturers of this article, however, for a very obvious reason, are not always careful to select that part of the hide which, being firmest, is best adapted for the purpose. Indeed, I have known several instances wherein nearly the whole hide has been cut up and made into hose, without any selection whatever. The effect of this is very prejudicial. The loose parts of the hide soon stretch and weaken, and while, by stretching, the diameter of the pipe is increased, the pressure of the water, in consequence, becomes greater on that than on any other part of the hose, which is thereby rendered more liable to give way at such places. Hose are frequently made narrow in the middle, and, in order to fit the coupling-joints, wide at the extremities--a practice which lessens their capability of conveying a given quantity of water, in proportion to the difference of the area of the section of the diameters at the extremity and the middle part. In order to make them fit the coupling-joints, when carelessly widened too much, I have frequently seen them stuffed up with brown paper, and in that case they almost invariably give way, the folds of the paper destroying the hold which the leather would otherwise have of the ridges made on the ends of the coupling-joints. In order to avoid all these faults and defects, the riveted hose used are made in the following manner:-- The leather is nine and five-eighths inches broad (that being the breadth required for coupling-joints of two and a half inches diameter of clear water-way), and levelled to the proper uniform thickness. The leather used is taken from hides of the very best description, perfectly free from flesh-cuts, warble-holes, or any other blemish, and stuffed as high as possible.[M] Not more than four breadths are taken from each hide, and none of the soft parts about the neck, shoulders, or belly are used. No piece of leather is less than four feet long. The leather is gauged to the exact breadth, and holes punched in it for the rivets. In the operation of punching, great care must be taken to make the holes on each side of the leather exactly opposite to each other. If this precaution be not attended to, the seam when riveted takes a spiral direction on the hose, which the heads of the rivets are very apt to cut at the folds. Care must also be taken that the leather is equally stretched on both sides, otherwise the number of holes on the opposite sides may be unequal. The ends are then cut at an angle of thirty-seven degrees; if cut at a greater angle, the cross-joint will be too short, and if at a smaller, the leather will be wasted. This must, however, be regulated in some degree by the number of holes in the cross-joint, as the angle must be altered a little if the holes at that part do not fit exactly with the holes along the side. The different pieces of leather necessary to form one length, or forty feet of hose, are riveted together by the ends. Straps of leather, three inches broad, are then riveted across the pipe, ten feet apart, to form loops for the purpose of handing or making fast the hose when full of water. The leather is then laid along a bench, and a bar of iron, from eight to ten feet long, three inches broad, and one inch thick, with the corners rounded off, is laid above it. The rivets are next put into the holes on one side of the leather, along the whole length of the iron bar. The holes on the other side are then brought over them, and the washers put on the points of the rivets, and struck down with a hollow punch. The points of the rivets are then riveted down over the washers, and finished with a setting punch. The bar of iron is drawn along, and the same operation repeated till the length of the hose be finished. The rivets and washers should be made of the best wrought copper, and must be well tinned before being used. Some objections have been made to riveted hose on account of the alleged difficulty of repairing them; but this is not so serious a matter as may at first view appear. Indeed, they very seldom require any repairs, and when they do, the process is not difficult. If any of the rivets be damaged, as many must be taken out as will make room for the free admission of the hand. A small flat mandrel being introduced into the hose, the new rivets are put into the leather, and riveted up the same as new pipe; the mandrel is then shaken out at the end. If the leather be damaged, it may be repaired either by cutting out the piece, and making a new joint, or by riveting a piece of leather upon the hole. The manner of attaching the hose to the coupling-joint is also a matter of very considerable importance. If a joint come off when the engine is in operation, a whole length of hose is rendered useless for the time, and a considerable delay incurred in getting it detached, and another substituted. To prevent this, the hose ought to fit as tightly as possible to the coupling-joint, without any packing. In riveted hose, a piece of leather, thinned down to the proper size, should be put on to make up the void which the thick edge of the leather next the rivet necessarily leaves; the hose should then be tied to the coupling-joint as firmly as possible with the best annealed copper wire, No. 16 gauge. When the hose are completely finished in this manner they are proved by a proving-pump, and if they stand a pressure of two hundred feet of water they are considered fit for service. I may also add, that when any piece of hose has been under repair it is proved in the same manner before it is deemed trustworthy. The proving of the hose is of very considerable importance, and the method of doing so which I have mentioned is greatly superior to the old plan of proving them on an engine or fire-cock. By the latter method, no certain measure can be obtained by which the pressure can be calculated. In the first place it must depend on the relative height of the reservoir from whence the water is obtained and that of the fire-cock where the experiment is made; and as the supply of water drawn from the pipes by the inhabitants may be different on different days of the week and even in different hours of the day, it is quite evident that by this method no certain rule can be formed for the purpose required, the pressure being affected by the quantity of water drawn at the time. The method of proving by an engine is considerably better than this; but when a proving-pump can be obtained it is infinitely better than either. One disadvantage of an engine is, that it requires a considerable number of men; but even the proof, that of throwing the water to a given height on the gable of a house or other height, is not always a test of the sufficiency of the hose. As the temperature is low or high, the wind fresh or light, the degree of pressure on the hose in throwing the water to the required height will be greater or less. Indeed, in high winds it is a matter of extreme difficulty to throw the water to any considerable height. With an engine of 7-inch barrels and 7-inch stroke, fitted with eighty feet of 2-3/8-inch hose, I have found from several experiments that when the water is thrown seventy-five feet high, the pressure on the hose is equal to one hundred feet. The same engine, with 160 feet of hose, and the branch-pipe raised fifty feet above the level of the engine, when the water was thrown fifty-six feet from the branch, occasioned a pressure equal to 130 feet on the hose. From these experiments, I am convinced that the pressure will not be equal to 200 feet, except in very extreme cases, or when some obstacle gets into the jet pipe. I tried the extreme strength of a piece of riveted hose 4 feet long and 2-3/8 inches diameter, and found that it did not burst till the pressure increased to 500 feet; and when it gave way the leather was fairly torn along the rivet-holes. Every possible care should be taken to keep the hose soft and pliable, and to prevent its being affected by mildew. After being used, in order to dry them equally they should be hung up by the centre, with the two ends hanging down, until half dry. They should then be taken down and rubbed over with a composition of bees'-wax, tallow, and neats-foot oil,[N] and again hung up to allow the grease to sink into the leather. When the hose appear to be dry they should be a second time rubbed with the composition, and then coiled up for use. In order that the hose undergoing the operation of greasing may not be disturbed or used till in a fit state, it is better to have a double set, and in this way, while one set is in grease the other is in the engine ready and fit for service. More time can also be taken for any repairs which may be necessary, and they will in consequence be more carefully done, and at fires where a great length of hose is required the spare set will always be available. When the weather is damp, and the hose cannot be dried so as to be fit for greasing in two or three days, a stove should be put into the room in order to facilitate the process. The greatest care, however, must be taken in the use of artificial heat. The whole apartment should be kept of one equal temperature, which ought never to be higher than is requisite to dry the hose for greasing in about forty hours. _Coupling-joints._[O]--So much of the efficiency and duration of the hose depend on the proper form given to the brass coupling-joints, that I deem it useful to give a detailed description, both of those generally made use of and of those adopted by the Edinburgh fire-establishment, and also to point out their various defects and advantages. [Illustration: FIG. 3. Old Coupling] Fig. 3 is the construction commonly made by engine-makers. Its defects are as follows:--From the form of the furrows and ridges where the leather is tied it does not hold on well against a force tending to pull the hose off end-ways; screw-nails are therefore often employed, as at A, to secure the hose on the brass. The points of these nails always protrude more or less into the inside of the joint, and materially impede the current of water. The mouths of the joints are also turned outwards, and form a shoulder, as at B. The intention of this is probably to assist in securing the leather in its place, and to prevent the lapping from slipping. The effects of it are as follows:--First, from the leather being strained over this projection, it becomes liable to be cut by every accidental injury, and very soon cracks and gives way, when a portion must be cut off and a fresh fixing made; second, the leather being stretched over the projection, does not fit the other part of the joint, and must be loose or filled up with pieces of leather, or, as is sometimes done, with brown paper; third, the irregularity of the calibre of the conduit which this shoulder occasions diminishes the performance of the engine. [Illustration: FIG. 4. New Coupling] Fig. 4 is the coupling-joint adopted in Edinburgh. The furrows at the tying place are shallow, but their edges present a powerful obstacle to the slipping of the leather. No screw-nails are employed, nor is there any shoulder, as at B; there is therefore no impediment to or variation in the velocity of the current, as the calibres of the coupling joints and of the hose are so nearly uniform. It will be seen also that as the lapping projects above the leather this latter can never be injured by falls or rubbing on the ground. Another great advantage attending the joints used here is the manner in which their screws are finished. On examining the figure minutely, it will be observed that the male-screw ends in a cylinder of the diameter of the _bottom_ of its thread, consequently of the diameter of the top of the thread of the female-screw. The effect of this is, that, when the screws are brought together, the cylindric portion serves as a guide to the threads, and the most inexperienced person cannot fail to make them catch fair at the first trial. The advantage of this in the circumstances attending fires is obvious. These joints, although requiring three or four turns to close them up, yet as it is only the ring D which requires to be turned, it can easily be done with the hand alone without the use of wrenches. Although, when the whole length of hose has been jointed, it may be as well to send a man with a pair of wrenches to set the joints firm; this, however, is by no means absolutely necessary; if the joints are kept in proper order a man can secure them sufficiently with the hand. There is also a facility in taking turns out of the hose, which no other but a swivel joint affords. By slackening a single turn any twist may be taken out, without undoing the joint or stopping the engine, while, from the number of turns required to close the joints, there is no chance of the screw being by any accident undone. In order to prevent the threads from being easily damaged, they should be of a pretty large size, not more than five or six to the inch. For the same reason also the thread should be a little rounded. As it sometimes happens that the screws are damaged by falling on the street, or by heavy bodies striking them, whenever the hose have been used the joints should be tried by a steel gauge-screw, to be kept for that purpose. This ought to be particularly attended to, as, on arriving at a fire, it is rather an awkward time to discover that a joint has been damaged, while the delay thus occasioned may be attended with very serious consequences. _Four Bundles of Sheepskin and Lay-cord._--These are simply four or five stripes of sheepskin, each about three or four inches broad. When a leak occurs in a length of hose which cannot be easily replaced at the time, one or more pieces of sheepskin are wrapt tightly over the leak and tied firmly with a piece of cord. This is but an indifferent method of mending, but I do not know of any other which can be so readily applied with the same effect. If another length of hose can be substituted for the leaky one it is better to do so; but that is not always at hand, nor does it always happen that time can be spared for the purpose. _Four Lengths of Suction-pipe._--These are generally made of leather, riveted tightly over a spiral worm of hoop-iron, about three-quarters of an inch broad, a piece of tarred canvas being placed between the worm and the leather. They are usually made from six to eight feet long, with a copper strainer screwed on the farther end, to prevent as much as possible any mud or dirt from getting into the engine with the water. It is of advantage to carry four lengths of suction-pipe, as they can be joined to reach the water; if one is damaged the others will still be serviceable. The suction-pipes are more troublesome to rivet than the common hose, and are done in the following manner:--After the joints are fixed on the spiral worm, and it is covered with the tarred canvas, an iron mandrel longer than the worm is put through it, the edge being rounded to the circle of the inside of the worm. The projecting ends of the mandrel are supported to allow the worm to lie quite clear. One end of the mandrel has a check, that the brass joint may not prevent the worm from lying flat on the mandrel. The leather is then put over the worm, and the rivets being put into one side, a small thin mandrel is laid over the canvas and the rivets struck down upon it. If the small mandrel be not used the heads of the rivets are apt to lie unequally on the worm. _Three Wrenches for Coupling-joints._--These are for tightening the coupling-joints, when that cannot be sufficiently done by hand. When the hose are all put together a man is sent along the whole line with a pair of wrenches to tighten such of the coupling-joints as require it. The wrenches are generally made with a hole to fit the knob on the coupling-joint, and, when used, are placed, one on the nob of the male and another on the nob of the female-screw, so as to pull them in opposite directions. _Two Branch Pipes._--These are taper copper tubes, having a female-screw at one end to fit the coupling-joints of the hose, and a male-screw at the other to receive the jet pipes, one is 4 feet long to use from the outside of a house on fire, the other 12 inches for inside work. _Three Jet-pipes_ or nozzles of various sizes made to screw on the end of the branch pipe. A great many different shapes of jet have been tried, and that shown in Fig. 5, I found to answer best when tried with other forms. The old jet was a continuation in a straight line of the taper of the branch, from the size of the hose-screw, to the end of the jet-pipe; this had many inconveniences; the size of the jet could not be increased without making the jet-pipe nearly parallel. As the branches were sometimes 7 feet or 8 feet long, in some instances the orifice at the end of the jet-pipe was larger than that at the end of the branch. The present form of the jet completely obviates this difficulty, as the end of the branch is always 1-1/2 inches diameter. [Illustration: FIG. 5.] The curve of the nozzle of the present jet is determined by its own size; five times one-half of the difference between the jet to be made and the end of the branch, is set up on each side of the diameter of the upper end of the branch, a straight line is then drawn across, and an arc of a circle described on this line, from the extremity of each end of the diameter of the jet, until it meets the top of the branch; the jet is then continued parallel, the length of its own diameter; the metal is continued one-eighth of an inch above this, to allow of a hollow being turned out to protect the edge: The rule for determining the size of the jet for inside work is, to "make the diameter of the jet one-eighth of an inch for every inch in the diameter of the cylinder, for each 8 inches of stroke." The branch used in this case is the same size as shown in Fig. 5. When it is necessary to throw the water to a greater height, or distance, a jet one-seventh less in area is used, with a branch from 4 feet to 5 feet long. _Two Lengths of Scaling Ladders._--These are 6-1/2 feet long, and are fitted with sockets so that any number up to 7 or 8 may be joined together to form one ladder varying in length according to circumstances from 6-1/2 to upwards of 40 feet. _One Fire-hook._--This is similar to a common boat-hook, of such length as may be most convenient to strap on the handles of the engine. It is used for pulling down ceilings, and taking out deafening-boards when the fire happens to be between the ceiling and the floor above. It is also used when a strong door is to be broken open. It is placed with the point upon the door, one or two men bearing upon it, while another striking the door, the whole force of the blows is made to fall upon the lock or other fastening, which generally yields without much difficulty. _Sixty Feet of Patent Line and Twenty Feet of Trace Line._--These are generally used for hoisting the hose into the windows of the house, in which there is a fire, the stairs being sometimes so crowded with people and furniture, that it is difficult to force a passage, and when the pipe is laid in the stair, it is liable to be damaged by people treading on it. _One Mattock and Shovel._--These are useful in damming any running water or gutter, uncovering drains, &c., from which the engine may be supplied with water. The mattock should be short and strong, and the shovel of the sort called diamond-pointed. _One Hatchet._--The most serviceable hatchet for a fire-engine, is similar to that used as a felling axe by wood-cutters. The back part is made large that it may be conveniently used as a hammer. _One Saw._--This should be a stout cross-cut saw, very widely set. It is useful in cutting off the communication between one house and another, which, when water is scarce, is sometimes necessary. _One Iron Crow-bar._--This should be about two feet long. It is used in opening doors, breaking through walls, &c. _One Portable Cistern._[P]--This is made of canvas on a folding iron frame, and is used in London placed over the street-fire plugs, a hole is left in the bottom through which the water enters and fills the cistern, the escape between the canvas and the plug box being trifling. Two and sometimes three engines are worked by suction-pipe from one plug in this manner. The portable cistern is also used when the engine is supplied by suction, from water conveyed in carts or buckets, and is greatly preferable to any plan of emptying the water directly into the engine. By this latter method there is always a considerable waste of water, arising both from the height of the engine, and the working of the handles; and, in addition to these objections only one person can pour in water at a time. When the water is poured into the engine from carts, it must stop working till the cart is emptied. All these objections, are in a great measure removed by placing the portable cistern clear of the engine; when used in this manner there must of course be no hole in the bottom. _One Flat Suction Strainer_, made to screw on to the suction pipe, to prevent anything being drawn in that would not pass through the jet-pipe, and made flat, with no holes in the upper surface, for use in the portable cistern. _One Standcock_, with stem to insert direct in the fire-plug, and used principally with hose to throw a jet for cooling ruins. _One Canvas Sheet._--This, when stretched out and held securely by several men, may be jumped into from the window of a house on fire with comparative safety. _One Hand-pump_, as described at page 130, and used with the canvas buckets. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote G: The engines and their crews are distinguished by these colours.] [Footnote H: The hose are made up in flat coils, with the male coupling-screw in the centre, and the female on the outside. When a length is to be laid out in any direction, it is set on its edge, and then run out in the required direction,--in this way no turns or twists can ever occur. When the hose is to be taken up, it is uncoupled, and then wound up, beginning at the end farthest from the engine or from the fire-cock (as the case may be): by this method all the water is pressed out.] [Footnote I: In practising this exercise the men are in the habit of descending by the chains from the parapet of the North Bridge, Edinburgh, to the ground below: a height of 75 feet.] [Footnote J: Mr. Braidwood used canvas jumping sheets on this principle with hand holes for a dozen men, in the ordinary service of the London Fire Brigade.] [Footnote K: Now Shand, Mason, and Co.] [Footnote L: This description applies to the most recently constructed fire-engines belonging to the Metropolitan Fire Brigade.] [Footnote M: "Stuffing," a technical term need by leather-dressers or curriers.] [Footnote N: The proportions are, 1 gallon neats-foot oil, 2 lbs. tallow, 1/4 lb. bees-wax, melted together, and laid while warm on the leather.] [Footnote O: This description of the Edinburgh coupling-joints was written in 1830, and is inserted here to show how the present form of the well-known London Brigade hose-coupling was arrived at. The internal diameter was originally 2-3/8 inches, but Mr. Braidwood, when in London, found that he could increase it to 2-1/2 inches.] [Footnote P: See engraving of portable cistern, page 156.] FIRE ANNIHILATOR With regard to the Fire Annihilator, I have seen several experiments with this machine, and heard of more which were not successful; and if an invention fails when experiments are tried, it is open to the impression that it might fail when brought into active operation. There have also been many cases where these machines have met with accidents, one at Drury Lane Theatre amongst the number. Water, properly applied, will do whatever the Annihilator can accomplish, and also many things which the latter cannot do. As it is, there are some forty or fifty different articles to carry with each fire-engine, and to add to them such unwieldy things as Fire Annihilators, would be to encumber the men more than they are at present, with a very doubtful prospect of advantage. WATER SUPPLY. The supply of water is the most vital part of any exertions towards extinguishing fire. Where the pressure is sufficient, and the mains large enough, by far the most efficient and economical mode of using the water is to attach the hose directly to the mains. In London, however, this can rarely be done, for several reasons. The greatest number of plugs are on the service pipes, that is, the pipes for supplying water for domestic and other purposes, which are only open a short time every day. If the cisterns are nearly empty, the pressure cannot be obtained till they are filled. Then, again, the plugs being some distance apart, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient number of jets. But when the plugs are full open 1-3/4 diameter, a sufficient quantity of water is obtained from each to supply three engines, each of which will give a jet equal to the plug if confined to one jet. The pressure also in the mains in London seldom exceeds 120 feet at the utmost. For these reasons the pressure from the mains is seldom used till the fire is checked, when the ruins are cooled by the "dummies," as the jets from the mains are named by the firemen. If water can be obtained at an elevation, pipes with plugs or firecocks on them, are preferable to any other mode at present in use for the supply of fire-engines. The size of the pipes will depend on the distance and elevation of the head, and also on the size of the buildings to be protected. It may be assumed as a general rule, that the intensity of a fire depends, in a great measure, on the cubic content of the building; distinction being made as to the nature and contents of such building. If no natural elevation of water can be made available, and the premises are of much value, it may be found advisable to erect elevated tanks; where this is done, the quantity of water to be kept ready, and the rate at which it is delivered, must depend on the means possessed of making use of the water. The average size of fire-engines may be taken at two cylinders of 7 inches diameter, with a length of stroke of 8 inches, making forty strokes each per minute. This sized engine will throw 141 tons of water in six hours, and allowing one-fourth for waste, 176 tons would be a fair provision in the tanks for six hours' work; this quantity multiplied by the number of engines within reach, will give an idea of what is likely to be required at a large fire. If, however, there are steam-engines to keep up the supply through the mains, the quantity of water kept in readiness may be reduced to two hours' consumption, as it is likely that the steam-engines would be at work before that quantity was exhausted. This is what may be supposed to be required, in cases of serious fires in dockyards, in large stacks of warehouses, or in large manufactories. [Illustration: FIG 6. Opening for Suction-pipe.] Where water can be had at nearly the level of the premises, such as from rivers, canals, &c., if it is not thought prudent to erect elevated tanks, the water may be conducted under the surface by large cast-iron pipes, with openings at such distances as may seem advisable for introducing the suction-pipes (Fig. 6). This plan should not be adopted where the level of the water is more than 12 feet below the surface of the ground, as although a fire-engine will, if perfectly tight, draw from a much greater depth than 14 feet (2 feet being allowed for the height of the engine), still a very trifling leakage will render it useless for the time, at such a depth. The worst mode of supplying engines with water is by covered sunk tanks; they are generally too small, and unless very numerous, confine the engines to one or two particular spots, obliging the firemen to increase the length of the hose which materially diminishes the effect of the fire-engine. If the tank is supplied by mains from a reservoir, it would be much better to save the expense of the tank, and to place plugs or firecocks on the water-pipe. Another evil in sunk tanks is, that the firemen can seldom guess what quantity of water they may depend upon, and they may thus be induced to attempt to stop a fire, at a point they would not have thought of if they had known correctly the quantity of water in store. Where sunk tanks are already constructed, they may be rendered more available by a partial use of the method shown in Fig. 6. _Memoranda of Experiments tried on the mains and service pipes of the Southwark Water Company, between 4 and 9_ A.M. _of the 31st January, 1844. The wind blowing fresh from N.N.W._ The pressure at the water-works at Battersea was kept at 120 feet during the experiments, and every service pipe or other outlet was kept shut. _1st Experiment._--Six standcocks, with one length of 2-1/2 inches riveted leather hose 40 feet long, and one copper branch 4 feet to 5 feet long, with a jet 7/8 inch in diameter on each, were placed in six plugs on a main 7 inches diameter, in Union-street, between High-Street, Borough, and Gravel-lane, Southwark, at distances of about 120 yards apart. The water was brought from the head at Battersea, by 4250 yards of iron pipes 20 inches diameter, 550 yards of 15 inches diameter, and 500 yards of 9 inches diameter. 1st. One standcock was opened, which gave a jet of 50 feet in height, and delivered 100 gallons per minute. With four lengths of hose the jet was 40 feet high, and the delivery 92 gallons per minute. When the branch and jet were taken off with one length of hose the delivery was 260 gallons per minute. 2nd. The second standcock was then opened, and the jet from the first was 45 feet high. 3rd. The third standcock was opened, and the jet from the first 40 feet high. 4th. The fourth standcock being opened, the first gave a jet of 35 feet high. 5th. The fifth being opened, the first gave a jet of 30 feet high. 6th. All the six being opened, the first gave a jet of 27 feet in height. _2nd Experiment._--Six standcocks were then put into plugs, on a main 9 inches diameter in Tooley-Street, the extreme distance being 450 yards, with hose and jets as in the first experiment. The water was brought from the head at Battersea by 4250 yards of iron pipes of 20 inches diameter, 1000 yards of 15 inches diameter, 1400 yards of 9 inches diameter. The weather was nearly the same, but the place of experiment was more protected from the wind than in Union-street. 1st. With one standcock open, a jet 60 feet in height was produced, and 107 gallons per minute were delivered. 2nd. The second standcock was then opened, and the difference in the first jet was barely perceptible. 3rd. Other two standcocks being opened, the first jet was reduced to 45 feet in height, and the delivery to 92 gallons per minute. 4th. All the six standcocks being opened, the first jet was further reduced to 40 feet high, and the delivery to 76 gallons per minute. _3rd Experiment._--Two standcocks, with hose, &c., as in the first experiment, were then put into a service-pipe, 4 inches diameter and 200 yards long, in Tooley-street, the service-pipe was connected with 200 yards of main 5 inches diameter, branching from the main of 9 inches diameter. The weather was still the same as at first, but the wind did not appear to affect the jets, owing to the buildings all round being so much higher than the jet. 1st. The standcock nearest the larger main was opened, and a jet of 40 feet high was produced, delivering 82 gallons per minute. 2nd. Both standcocks being opened, the first gave a jet of 31 feet, and delivered 68 gallons per minute. 3rd. The standcock farthest from the large main only being opened, gave a jet of 34 feet, and delivered 74 gallons per minute. 4th. Both standcocks being opened, the farthest one gave a jet of 23 feet, and delivered 58 gallons per minute. When both these plugs were allowed to flow freely without hose, the water from that nearest the large main, rose about 18 inches, and the farther one about 1 inch above the plug-box. [Illustration: FIG. 7. Common Fire-plug.] These and other experiments prove the necessity of placing the plugs on the mains, and not on the service pipes, where there are mains in the street. The different modes of obtaining water from the mains or pipes are shown in the accompanying drawings. (Fig. 7) is a section of a common plug when not in use. [Illustration: FIG. 8. Fire-plug with canvas cistern.] (Fig. 8) is a section of the common plug, with a canvas dam or cistern over it, as used in London. The cistern is made of No. 1 canvas, 15 inches deep, extended at top and bottom by 5/8-inch round iron frames, a double stay is hinged on the top frame at each end. When the cistern is used the top frame is lifted up, and the stays put into the notches, in two pieces of hoop iron, fixed to the bottom frame. There is a circular opening 9 inches diameter in the canvas bottom, two circular rings of wash-leather, about 2 inches broad, are attached to the edges of the opening in the canvas, so as to contract it to 4 inches or 5 inches diameter; the plug being opened, the cistern is placed over it; the wash-leather is pressed down to the surface of the road by the water, and a tolerably water-tight cistern, with about 12 inches or 14 inches of water in it, is immediately obtained. [Illustration: FIG. 9. Plug, with Standcock.] (Fig. 9) is a plug with a standcock in it, to which hose may be attached. (Fig. 10) is a common single firecock with a round water-way 2-1/2 inches diameter. [Illustration: FIG. 10. Single Firecock.] (Fig. 11) is a double firecock, as laid down in Her Majesty's Dockyards. [Illustration: FIG. 11. Double Firecock, used at the Royal Dockyards.] It will be observed, that the short piece of pipe between the main and this firecock is not curved to the current of the water, but merely opened a little; this is done with a view of increasing the supply by steam power, and as the steam engines are, in most cases, situated in a different direction from the tanks or reservoirs, therefore the curve that would have assisted the current in one direction would have retarded it in the other. It has been objected to these firecocks, that the opening does not run through the centre of the key, therefore only one side of the key covers the opening in the barrel, while in the common firecock both sides are covered. [Illustration: FIG. 12. Double Firecock, used at the British Museum.] (Fig. 12) is a double firecock, as laid down at the British Museum. This has a very good delivery, and is certain to be always tight, if well made, as the pressure of the water forces the key into the barrel; this also renders the cock somewhat difficult to be opened and shut, if the pressure be great; but as a lever of any length may be used, and the key, from its perpendicular position, may be loosened by a blow, this objection is in a great measure obviated. In Figs. 10 and 11 the openings in the street are large enough to admit of the levers for opening the cock to be fixed, that no mistake may occur from the lever being mislaid; but with those at the British Museum, it was not thought necessary to have fixed levers, as a crow-bar, or anything that could be introduced into the eye of the spanner, would open them. The plug and firecock have both certain advantages and disadvantages, which are now described. The plug, with a canvas cistern, is the easiest mode of obtaining water; the plug-box being only the size of a paving-stone, is no annoyance in the street, and the water has only one angle to turn before it is delivered. On the other hand, where the supply of water is limited, the plugs give but little command of it; there is, however, comparatively very small loss at a large fire in London from this cause, as it is very seldom that all the fire-engines can be supplied direct from the plugs, and those that arrive late must pick up the waste water as they best can, by using another description of canvas dam, or opening the street; but in enclosed premises, especially where the water is kept for the purpose of extinguishing fires, firecocks are much to be preferred. It is very difficult to insert the standcock into a plug if there is a considerable force of water, and if the paving has moved, it cannot be done without raising the plug-box; but this is, however, the easiest mode of using firecocks, and where there is a considerable pressure of water, if the watchmen or the police are supplied with a hose-reel and branch-pipe, they can, in enclosed premises, direct a jet on the fire while the engines are being prepared, and if they cannot reach the fire, they will have water ready for the engine when it arrives. Inclosed premises are particularly mentioned, because the principal duty of the watchmen, in these cases, is to guard against fire, and their other duties being comparatively few, the men are not often changed, and they can be instructed thoroughly in the matter. With the general police of the metropolis it is quite different, their duties are so numerous and varied, that to add that of firemen to them would only be to confuse them. Firecocks, if kept at 9 inches to 12 inches below the surface, are easily protected from frost, by stuffing the opening with straw. The advantage which the double firecocks have over the single ones, is merely the increased water-way, as a firecock 3-1/2 inches diameter could not be so easily opened or shut, as two cocks of 2-1/2 inches diameter. One of the greatest objections to firecocks, is the very large openings required in the streets, the first cost and the repair of which are both considerable, besides their liability to accident. To take them to the footpath, increases the expenses and diminishes the supply of water, as it is generally done with a small pipe, and the number of angles is increased. In some instances, where firecocks have been put down on one side of the street, no less than four right angles have been made in the course of the water; and if the fire happens to be on the opposite side of the street from the firecock, the thoroughfare must be stopped. The expense also is no slight consideration, for if laid along with the water-pipes, each firecock, if properly laid, and the pit built round with cement, will cost eight or ten times as much as a plug. London is, upon the whole (except in the warehouse districts), fairly supplied with water for the average description of fires, that is, where not more than five or six engines are required. When, however, it is necessary to work ten or twelve engines, there is very often a deficiency. In many of the warehouse districts the supply is very limited indeed, although it is there that the largest fires take place. The water companies are generally willing to give any quantity of water, but they object to lay down large mains without any prospect of remuneration. The warehouse keepers decline to be at the expense of laying the pipes, and there the matter seems to rest. In most other places of importance, the water is under the management of the civic authorities, and they, of course, endeavour to obtain a good supply of water at fires in warehouse as well as in other districts. In supplying fire-engines with water from firecocks, one or more lengths of hose are screwed on the firecock; the extreme end being put into the engine, the firecock is then opened and the water rushes in. When the water-pipes are large and the pressure considerable, two or even three engines may be supplied from the same firecock. If the firecocks are all at too great a distance from the place on fire, to be reached by the supply of hose brought with the engine, the next resource is, to open the nearest firecock above the level of the place where the water is required. By covering the eyes of drains, and stopping up any cross-water channels, the water may in this manner be conveyed along the street, from a very considerable distance. From the nature of the ground it does not always happen that the water will run directly from the nearest firecock, to the spot where it is required; acclivities, buildings, and many other causes, may prevent this; but in some of these cases a few lengths of the hose, attached to the firecock, may convey the water to a channel which will conduct it to the required point. Upon the arrival of the water, it ought to be dammed up, and the engine will lift it by suction out of the pool so formed. If, however, from the nature of the ground, from the want of hose, or from other causes, it is found impracticable to convey the water by either of the above methods, the next best is, to conduct the water in hose as far as can be accomplished, and carry it the remainder of the distance in carts, buckets, or whatever else may be most convenient. When carried in buckets it is of advantage to form a line of men from the water to the engine, each man covering five or six feet of ground. The buckets are then handed from one man to another, till they reach the two or three men who are stationed round the suction-tub or fire-engine to receive them. The buckets when emptied are returned by a different line of men (women or boys) stationed in the same manner as the former. If a sufficient number of hands cannot be had to return the buckets in this manner, any convenient number may be employed to carry them to the firecock, that they may be again filled. When a fire occurs where the water-pipes are unprovided with firecocks or plugs, the ground should be immediately opened, and the water-pipe cut. If it be of cast-iron, a large hammer may effect the purpose: on the water-pipe being broken, the suction-pipe of the engine is placed in the opening so made. If the pipe be of lead, the opening in the street should be made of sufficient length to admit of one end of it, when cut, being turned into the engine. If the supply of water by this means be so great as to occasion waste, it may be regulated by the nearest stopcock on the water-pipe, by driving a wooden plug into the end of a cast-iron pipe, or compressing the end of a leaden one. The next plan I shall notice of supplying fire-engines is from drains, gutters, &c. In particular situations and wet weather considerable supplies of water from these and similar sources may be obtained. In the gutters all that is required is to dam them up; and, if there be no materials at hand for this purpose, the causeway must be dug up, till there is a sufficient depth of water for the suction-pipe of the engine. When the water is to be drawn from drains or common sewers, great care should be taken not to damage them farther than is absolutely necessary. If enough of cover be taken off to allow one man to enter easily, it will be quite sufficient for all necessary purposes. When the man inside the drain or common sewer has collected a proper supply of water by damming up the channel, the suction-pipe should be handed down to him, and the engine set to work. Although it be true that foul water quenches fire, I will here observe, that the water from a common sewer should never be used, except when it is impossible to procure it from a purer source. For the purpose of procuring water to extinguish a fire, I had at one time occasion to open a common sewer, in which, with the usual impurities, the waste from a gas manufactory was intermixed, and the stench in the premises where the fire had been extinguished by this water, was for some time after very disagreeable. If the water be obtained from a pond or river at a little distance, one engine may be stationed close to it, and that engine made to pump the water into another at work. If the water be conveyed in carts, an engine may be kept at the pond or river for the purpose of filling them. Of course this can only be done where there is a proper supply of engines. In working from an open water, such as a gutter, drain, river, or pond, it is proper, in order to prevent sand or gravel being drawn into the engine, to sink an iron or wooden bucket, into which the suction-pipe of the engine should be placed. If nothing better can be had, a good wicker basket will be found useful. It is of great advantage to have a number of carts, with butts upon them full of water, as it ensures a small supply to the engines the moment they arrive at the fire. This plan, however, entails a very considerable expense, as carters must be paid for taking them out on every alarm, besides giving prizes to the owners of the first and second horses, to ensure their coming in time. APPENDIX. The following, on Steam Fire-engines and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, is added as a supplement to Mr. Braidwood's account of the London Fire Brigade, and brings the information upon these subjects up to the present date (May, 1866):-- The steam fire-engine was first constructed in London, in 1830, before the formation of the London Fire Brigade, by Braithwaite, who made several engines, and exhibited them at various public trials, also at several fires, but without being able to bring them into general use. The matter remained in abeyance till 1852, when the London Fire Brigade caused their large hand-worked floating fire-engine to be altered so as to be worked by steam. This engine having been originally made by Tilley, of London, the alterations were entrusted to Shand and Mason, his successors. In the same year the first American steam fire-engine was constructed in New York. In 1855 the London Fire Brigade, stimulated by their first experiment, caused an entirely new self-propelling, floating steam fire-engine to be constructed. The experience gained by their first attempt at steam fire-engine making, enabled Shand and Mason to compete successfully in this matter, as their design was adopted after receiving the approval of the late Mr. Walker, Engineer, of Great George Street, London. The re-introduction of land steam fire-engines into London was accomplished by Shand and Mason, who, in 1858, constructed their first; this engine, after several public trials, was in the same year sent to St. Petersburgh. In 1859 the same firm constructed two land steam fire-engines, which they offered to the London Fire Brigade for hire or purchase, and in the following year (1860) the Fire Brigade took one on hire for one year. This experiment proved so successful, that in 1861 the committee purchased, from Shand and Mason, the fourth steam engine of their construction. This, with one of the two made in 1859, were the only land steam engines that were at work at the Great Tooley Street Fire of 1861. In the beginning of 1862, Mr. Lee, of the firm of Lee and Larned, of New York, brought over a land steam fire-engine to be placed in the International Exhibition. This was worked in public at Hodges' Distillery on the 24th of March previous to the opening of the Exhibition. Shand and Mason supplied the London Fire Brigade in April, 1862, with the eighth land steam fire-engine of their construction. Messrs. Merryweather and Sons, of London, placed their first land steam fire-engine in the International Exhibition of 1862, but this, like the ninth by Shand and Mason, was not in time for the opening, and consequently could not compete for a prize medal, which was awarded to Lee and Larned, of New York. A public trial, however, took place before the jury of the Exhibition, of which the following is an account extracted verbatim from the jurors' published reports:-- INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1862. SPECIAL JURY FOR FIRE-ENGINES. J. F. BATEMAN, F.R.S., _London_; Civil Engineer. CAPT. BENT, _London_; Superintendent of Fire Arrangements in the Exhibition. W. M. BROWN, _London_; Superintendent of Westminster Fire Brigade. EARL OF CAITHNESS, _London_. J. HAWKSHAW, _London_; Civil Engineer. C. JENNY, _Austria_; Councillor of Mines in the Imperial Royal Academy of Mines at Schemnitz. P. LUUYT, _France_; Engineer to the Imperial Commissioners of Mines. J. E. McCONNELL, _Wolverton_; late Locomotive Superintendent of the London and North Western Railway. O. PIHL, _Norway_; Civil Engineer. W. M. RANKINE, _Glasgow_; Professor of Mechanics in the University of Glasgow. CAPT. SHAW, _London_; Superintendent of the London Fire Brigade. DUKE OF SUTHERLAND, _London_. F. B. TAYLOR, _United States_; Mechanical Engineer. H. THOMAS, _Zollverein_; Manufacturer. H. TRESCA, _France_; Professor of Mechanics, President of the French Institute of Civil Engineers. REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF CLASS VIII. ON FIRE-ENGINES. _After detailing the Trials of Hand-worked Fire-Engines, the Report states that_,-- The Committee next proceeded to take the necessary steps for trying the steam fire-engines on the 1st of July, and, as before, invited the engine builders to a preliminary meeting, that they might receive full information as to the rules and regulations to be observed. In compliance with this invitation, the following engine-makers attended a meeting on the 28th of June, viz:-- Mr. Lee, of the firm of Lee and Larned, Novelty Iron-works, New York. Messrs. Merryweather and Son. Messrs. Shand and Mason. Mr. Lee declined to produce his steam fire-engine for trial, alleging various reasons for so doing, and though strongly urged, persisted in his resolution, and declined the contest. Messrs. Merryweather and Son expressed themselves ready to produce their steam fire-engine on the appointed day. Messrs. Shand and Mason informed the Committee that the engine which they had intended to work would not be ready owing to an accident, but requested permission to produce for trial two steam-engines made by them for the London Fire-Engine Establishment, although they were not in the Exhibition. All the arrangements having been made for trying several engines together, the Committee granted this request, as otherwise only one engine would have been present, and a complete table of results could therefore not have been obtained. The Committee assembled in the appointed place at eight o'clock on the morning of the 1st of July, and found three engines present, viz., one of Messrs. Merryweather and Son and two of Messrs. Shand and Mason. After the Committee had examined the boilers and machinery generally, the engine-makers filled their respective boilers with cold water from the river, and fires having been laid, the three were lighted at the same moment, and the makers were ordered to commence working into a tank at sixty feet distance as soon as they had attained a steam pressure of 100 lbs. to the square inch. Messrs. Merryweather's engine attained the pressure named in 12 minutes 10 seconds, Messrs. Shand and Mason's large engine in 18 minutes 30 seconds, the small engine in about 30 minutes, some mismanagement having occurred which compelled them to draw the fire in the latter and light it a second time. Messrs. Merryweather's engine commenced working as arranged when the steam-gauge indicated a pressure of 100 lbs., and was 2 minutes and 50 seconds at work before water passed through the nose-pipe. Notwithstanding this very serious defect, this engine had poured 500 gallons of water into a tank 60 feet distant in 17 minutes and 15 seconds from the time at which the fire was lighted. After the difficulty of drawing the water had been surmounted, this engine worked well, and threw an admirable jet, losing 15 lbs. steam-pressure during the first trial. After three trials this engine became disabled; it was, however, repaired on the ground in about an hour and a half, and resumed work at the ninth trial, continuing to work well until the thirteenth, when it became again disabled, and was withdrawn by the maker, to the great regret of the Committee, who were thus left to continue the experiments with only two engines, both made by one firm. Messrs. Shand and Mason's large engine was 18 minutes 30 seconds getting up steam to 100 lbs., and when started drew water instantly, losing during the first trial 5 lbs. of steam-pressure. This engine was severely tested, and worked without accident throughout the day, the seventeenth trial lasting no less than 63 minutes, during which the steam and water were both kept to a pressure of 90 lbs. on the square inch throughout, working through a 1-3/8 inch nose-pipe. At the eighteenth and last trial this engine threw a good vertical jet. Messrs. Shand and Mason's small engine did not raise the steam to 100 lbs. in less than 30 minutes, owing, of course, partly to the mismanagement already mentioned, and partly to the nature of the boiler and fire-box, which, according to the makers' account, are not adapted for raising steam in the shortest possible time. After the engine got to work the steam-pressure was well sustained, and the engine continued working the entire day without accident, concluding in the evening by throwing a good vertical jet. During the time occupied by the trials the direction of the wind was W.N.W. to W. by N., pressure 2-1/2 to 4-1/2 lbs. on the square foot. The barometer stood at 29.97 inches. _Summary._ On the whole the Committee find as follows:-- Messrs. Merryweather and Son have produced, at a price of 700_l._, a steam fire-engine, weighing, according to the makers' account, 65 cwt., with jets and lamps, but without water, coal, suction-pipes, hose, or other gear, and capable, if no accidents occur, of throwing in an available stream the following average quantities of water per minute:-- Distance. Angle. Quantity. 61 feet. 10° 230 gallons. 85 " 21° 124 " Messrs. Shand and Mason have produced an engine, at a cost of 650_l._, weighing, according to their statement, 55 cwt., with jets and lamps, but without water, coals, suction-pipes, hose, or other gear, and capable of throwing in an available stream the following average quantities of water per minute:-- Distance. Angle. Quantity. 61 feet. 10° 250 gallons. 63 " 18° 165 " 82 " 14° 172 " 85 " 21° 137 " 102 " 11° 94 " 104 " 17° 19 " Messrs. Shand and Mason have also produced, at a price of 370_l._, an engine which, under the same conditions, weighs 35 cwt., and is capable of throwing in an available stream the following average quantities per minute:-- Distance. Angle. Quantity. 61 feet. 10° 142 gallons. 63 " 18° 133 " 82 " 14° 56 " 85 " 21° 27 " The best performance during the five trials from which this last average was taken being forty-six gallons, and the lowest five gallons per minute. At greater distances, in consequence of the wind, this engine could not deliver a stream, but continued working without accident throughout the day, and concluded in the evening by throwing a good vertical jet. SUTHERLAND, CHAIRMAN. E. M. SHAW, HON. SEC. * * * * * Shand and Mason's tenth land steam fire-engine was supplied to the London Brigade in June, 1862, and their twelfth, in February, 1863, upon orders given on the 4th January, 1862. But as the Committee of the London Fire Brigade were now negotiating with Government to take the duty of extinguishing fires off their hands, no orders for steam-engines were given out by them after the above date. * * * * * STEAM FIRE-ENGINE COMPETITION, CRYSTAL PALACE, LONDON, 1863. Towards the close of 1862, several engineers and other gentlemen interested in the improvement of steam fire-engines, offered prizes to be awarded at competitive trials to take place in London. The following is the Committee's published account of these trials which were held in the grounds of the Crystal Palace Company on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd July, 1863. The Committee consisted of the following gentlemen, viz.:-- _Chairman._ HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF SUTHERLAND. _Members._ THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF CAITHNESS. LORD RICHARD GROSVENOR, M.P. J. G. APPOLD, ESQ. J. T. BATEMAN, ESQ. W. M'BROWNE, ESQ. T. R. CRAMPTON, ESQ. W. M. CROSSLAND, ESQ. W. FAIRBAIRN, ESQ. T. HAWKSLEY, ESQ. J. E. McCONNELL, ESQ. HENRY MAUDSLAY, ESQ. J. MATHEWS, ESQ. J. NASMYTH, ESQ. J. PENN, ESQ. WILLIAM SMITH, ESQ. _Hon. Sec._ CAPTAIN E. M. SHAW. The engines were divided into two classes, the large class consisting of those weighing over 30 cwts., and not exceeding 60 cwts. and the small class of those not exceeding 30 cwts. The prizes offered were 250_l._ for the best engine, and 100_l._ for the second best, in each class. The chief points to which the Committee directed their attention, in addition to the consideration of cost and weight, were those relating to the general efficiency of the machines as fire-engines, combining among other points of excellence-- Rapidity in raising and generating steam. Facility of drawing water. Volume thrown. Distance to which it can be projected with the least amount of loss. Simplicity, accessibility, and durability of parts. LARGE CLASS. FIRST TRIAL. Delivering 1000 gallons into a tank at a true distance of 67 feet, and 27° from the horizon. Depth from which water was drawn, 4 feet 6 inches. The water in the boiler being cold when the signal was given to commence, each engine commencing to work on attaining steam pressure of 100lb. to the square inch. +---+-----------------+--------------+----------+---------+--------+ | | | | Time of | Time of | | |No.| MAKER. | Weight. | raising | filling | Total | | | | | Steam to | Tank. | Time. | | | | | 100lbs. | | | +---+-----------------+--------------+----------+---------+--------+ | | | T. c. q. lbs.| ' " | ' " | ' " | | 1 | Easton & Amos, | 2 18 3 12 | 13 14 | 6 16 | 19 30 | | | London | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Merryweather & | 2 18 0 8 | 10 25 | 9 42 | 20 7 | | | Son, London | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Shand & Mason, | 2 17 1 0 | 10 51 | 12 19 | 23 10 | | | London | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | Butt and Co., | 2 14 0 4 | 16 30 | 6 48 | 23 18 | | | United States | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | Roberts, London | 1 19 1 4 | 11 40 | 20 24 | 32 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Nichols | 2 10 1 4 | Did not work. | | | (Manhattan) | | | | | United States | | | | | | | | | | Gray & Son, | 1 18 1 4 | Did not work. | | | London | | | +---+-----------------+--------------+----------+---------+--------+ MERRYWEATHER AND SON began to work at 100 lbs., fell directly to 40 lbs., and continued so throughout; stopped and steam rose to 130 lbs. SHAND AND MASON--Suction-pipe choked; left off working about 2 minutes. SECOND TRIAL. Delivering 1000 gallons into tank at same distance commencing with full steam. +-----+--------------------+------------+--------+---------+ | | | Steam at | Steam | Time of | | No. | NAME. | Beginning. | during | filling | | | | | Work. | Tank. | +-----+--------------------+------------+--------+---------+ | | | | | ' " | | 1 | Shand & Mason | 100 | | 3 0 | | | | | | | | 2 | Butt & Co. | 100 | | 3 3 | | | | | | | | 3 | Merryweather & Son | 145 | | 3 7 | | | | | | | | 4 | Roberts | 80 | | 12 30 | +-----+--------------------+------------+--------+---------+ Roberts did not fill the tank. THIRD TRIAL. Delivering into large tank at a horizontal distance of 40 feet, a vertical height of 40 feet, a true distance of 56 feet, and at an angle of 45 degrees from the horizon, the depth from which water was drawn being 16 feet 4 inches. Key: A--No. of Deliveries Open. B--Length of Hose. C--Average Steam Pressure. D--Average Water Pressure. E--No. of Gallons Delivered. +-----+-----------+---------+---+---+--------+----+----+-------+-------+ | | | | | |Size of | | | |Time of| |No.| Name. | Time. | A | B |Nozzle. | C | D | E |Raising| | | | | | | | | | |Steam. | +---+-------------+---------+---+---+--------+----+----+-------+-------+ | | |hr. m. s.| | | | | | | | | 1 | Merryweather| 1 24 55 | 2 |440| 1-1/2 | 91 | 89 |16,086 |10' 32"| | | & Son | | | | | | | | to | | | | | | | | | | | 80lbs.| | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Shand | 2 0 0 | 2 |440| 1-1/2 &| 96 | 62 |12,917 |11' 21"| | | & Mason | | | | 1-3/8 | | | | to | | | | | | | | | | |120lbs.| | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Roberts | 2 0 0 | 1 |420| 1-1/4 | 75 | 75 | 9,936 |11' 20"| | | | | | | | | | | to | | | | | | | | | | | 80lbs.| | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | Butt & Co. | 0 46 50 | 2 |440| 1-1/2 | 78 | 78 | 8,280 |14' 10"| | | | | | | | | | | to | | | | | | | | | | | 45lbs.| | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | Easton & | 1 32 35 | 2 |440| 1-3/8 | 98 | 41 | 3,036 |12' 30"| | | & Amos | | | | | | | | to | | | | | | | | | | | 90lbs.| | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | Nichols | 0 4 55 | 2 |420| 1-1/2 | -- | -- | None. |13' 09"| | | (Manhattan) | | | | | | | | to | | | | | | | | | | | 45lbs.| +---+-------------+---------+---+---+--------+----+----+-------+-------+ MERRYWEATHER AND SON--Fire lighted at 4h. 1m. 55s.; gauge moved at 4h. 8m. 20s.; engine started at 4h. 12m. 27s.; water drawn in about 10 revolutions; pumps not primed, valve box leaked slightly, and engine worked satisfactorily in every respect. SHAND AND MASON--Fire lighted at 11h. 25m. 46s.; gauge moved at 11h. 32m. 53s.; engine started at 11h. 37m. 7s.; pump primed at 11h. 45m. 48s.; drew water at 11h. 47m.; water first through the nozzle at 11h. 48m. 59s.; in hood at 11h. 49m. 19s.; shifted nozzle (3-1/4m. delay); high wind. ROBERTS--Fire lighted at 11h. 17m.; engine, started at 11h. 28m. 20s. BUTT AND CO.--Fire lighted at 5h. 55m. 10s.; started engine at 6h. 9m. 20s.; repeatedly stopped from slide valves not acting, and stopped entirely at 6h. 46m., from cylinder cover breaking. EASTON AND AMOS--Fire lighted at 2h. 2m. 35s.; gauge moved 2h. 10m.; started engine at 2h. 15m. 5s.; pumps primed, worked till 2h. 54m. 5s.; stopped to shift plungers; went to work again, and stopped entirely at 3h. 35m. 10s., from two fire bars falling out. NICHOLS (Manhattan)--Fire lighted at 10h. 51m. 14s.; gauge moved at 10h. 59m. 20s.; drew water directly; steam up to 140lbs. at 11h. 8m. 45s.; stopped two minutes; started again; made a few revolutions, and fly-wheel broke. FOURTH TRIAL Vertical Jet against Tower. +-----+--------------------+---------+-----------------+ | No. | Name. | Size | Greatest Height | | | | of Jet. | Thrown. | +-----+--------------------+---------+-----------------+ | 1 | Shand & Mason | 22/16 | 180 ft. | | | | | | | 2 | Merryweather & Son | 26/16 | 180 ft. | | | | | | | 3 | Roberts | 14/16 | 150 ft. | | | | | | | 4 | Lee & Co | 21/16 | 55 ft. | +-----+--------------------+---------+-----------------+ GRAY'S engine lighted fire at 7h. 7m. 40s.; steam 9lbs. at 7h. 17m. 0s.; got to work at 7h. 23m. 40s. to blow fires; at 7h. 27m. 0s. water through hose. Owing to some of the pipe connected with the steam gauge breaking, no further experiments could be made. SMALL CLASS. FIRST TRIAL. Delivering 1000 gallons into a tank at a true distance of 50ft. and 37° from the horizon. Depth from which water was drawn, 4ft. 6in. The water in the boilers being cold when the signal was given to commence, each engine commencing to work on attaining steam pressure of 100lbs. to the square inch. +---+---------------+---------------+-----------+---------+--------+ | | | | Time of | Time of | | |No.| Name. | Weight. | raising | filling | Total | | | | | Steam | Tank. | Time. | | | | | to 100lbs.| | | +---+---------------+---------------+-----------+---------+--------+ | | | T. c. q. lbs.| ' " | ' " | ' " | | 1 | Shand & Mason | 1 9 2 0 | 11 36 | 5 24 | 17 0 | | | | | | | | | 2 | Lee & Co | 1 10 0 0 | 11 55 | 6 3 | 17 58 | | | | | | | | | 3 | Merryweather | 1 10 1 12 | 12 15 | 9 14 | 21 29 | | | & Son | | | | | +---+---------------+---------------+-----------+---------+--------+ Owing to a broken bolt, there was great leakage in water cylinder of Lee and Co's. engine. SECOND TRIAL. Delivering 1000 gallons into tank at same distance, commencing with full steam. +-----+--------------------+------------+--------+---------+ | | | Steam | Steam | Time | | No. | Name. | at | during | filling | | | | Beginning. | Work. | Tank. | +-----+--------------------+------------+--------+---------+ | | | | | ' " | | 1 | Shand & Mason | 85 | -- | 5 49 | | | | | | | | 2 | Lee & Co. | 125 | -- | 5 50 | | | | | | | | 3 | Merryweather & Son | 100 | -- | 6 17 | +---------------------------------------+--------+---------+ The leakage in Lee and Co's. engine was remedied. THIRD TRIAL. Delivering into large tank, commencing with Full Steam. At a horizontal distance of 40ft., a vertical height of 40ft., a true distance of 56ft., and at an angle of 45° from the horizon; the depth from which water was drawn being 16ft. 4in. Key A--Number of Deliveries open. B--Average Steam Pressure. C--Average Water Pressure. D--No. of Gallons Delivered. +--------------+---+---------+---+--------+---------+-----+----+------+ | | | | | Length | Size of | | | | | Name. |No.| Time. | A | of | Nozzle. | B | C | D | | | | | | Hose. | | | | | +--------------+---+---------+---+--------+---------+-----+----+------+ | | | h. m. s.| | | in. | | | | | Shand & | 1 | 1 0 0 | 1 | 420 | 1 & | 146 | 80 | 8142 | | Mason | | | | | 1-1/4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Merryweather | 2 | 1 0 0 | 1 | 420 | 7/8 | 86 | 45 | 4885 | | & Son | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Lee & Co. | 3 | 1 0 0 | 1 | 420 | 3/4 | 80 | 60 | 4278 | | | | | | | | | | | +--------------+---+---------+---+--------+---------+-----+----+------+ SHAND AND MASON--Steam ready at 150 lbs.; started at 7h. 3m. 32s.; stopped at 7h. 12m. 5s. to put on an additional length of hose; worked well throughout. MERRYWEATHER AND SON--Steam ready at 110 lbs.; commenced work at 3h. 43m. 30s.; pumps primed. LEE AND CO.--Steam ready, started at 2h. 1m. 0s.; worked well, without any stoppage. AWARDS. At a meeting of the Committee held on the 8th July, 1863, his Grace the Duke of Sutherland in the Chair, the following prizes were awarded:-- LARGE CLASS. Messrs. Merryweather & Sons, 1st Prize, 250_l._ Messrs. Shand & Mason 2nd Prize, 100_l._ Mr. W. Roberts, highly commended. SMALL CLASS. Messrs. Shand & Mason 1st Prize, 250_l._ Messrs. W. Lee & Co. 2nd Prize, 100_l._ (Signed) On behalf of the Committee, SUTHERLAND, CHAIRMAN. E. M. SHAW, HON. SEC. From the above trials it was found that the first prize large-class engine weighed 6504 lbs., and delivered in one hour 11,366 gallons, being at the rate of 196 gallons for each hundred-weight of the engine; while the first prize small-class engine delivered in the same time 8142 gallons, or 276 for each hundred-weight of the engine, showing that the latter engine delivered nearly one-half more water in proportion to its weight, than was delivered by the large one, the conditions of the two trials being the same. As the greatest amount of power in the smallest possible bulk and weight, was considered most available for use at London fires, the Committee of the London Fire Brigade, although not in a position, for the reasons already stated, to purchase additional steam fire-engines, commenced hiring Shand, Mason, and Co.'s prize engines, and at the close of 1865 had four such in use in this manner. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade, an extension of the late London Fire Brigade, has now (May, 1866) the following steam fire-engines in use:--The Floating Steam Fire-engine, by Shand and Mason, in 1855; a Land Steam Fire-engine by Easton and Amos, which was worked at the Crystal Palace trials, and is now used in a barge as a floating engine; one by Roberts, which was also worked at the Crystal Palace; three by Merryweather and Sons; and fifteen of Shand, Mason, and Co.'s Land Steam Fire-engines. METROPOLITAN FIRE BRIGADE. The disastrous results of the great fire at Tooley-street, in 1861, at which Mr. Braidwood lost his life, fully demonstrated the inadequacy (in men and appliances) of the fire brigade supported by the insurance offices, and as these bodies declined extending their establishment so as to meet the wants of the whole of the metropolis, a Parliamentary inquiry was instituted, which resulted in the passing of the following Act:-- ANNO VICESIMO OCTAVO & VICESIMO NONO VICTORI� REGIN�. CAP. XC. An Act for the Establishment of a Fire Brigade within the Metropolis. [5th July, 1865.] WHEREAS it is expedient to make further provision for the protection of life and property from fire within the metropolis: Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: _Preliminary._ 1. This Act may be cited for all purposes as the "Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act, 1865." 2. For the purposes of this Act the "Metropolis" shall mean the City of _London_ and all other parishes and places for the time being within the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Board of Works: "Insurance Company" shall include any persons corporate or unincorporate, or any person carrying on the business of fire insurance. 3. The expression "Metropolis Local Management Acts" shall mean the Acts following; that is to say, "The Metropolis Management Act, 1855," "The Metropolis Management Amendment Act, 1856," and "The Metropolis Management Amendment Act, 1862." _Establishment and Duties of Fire Brigade._ 4. On and after the first day of _January_ one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six the duty of extinguishing fires and protecting life and property in case of fire shall within the metropolis be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be entrusted to the Metropolitan Board of Works; and with a view to the performance of that duty it shall be lawful for them to provide and maintain an efficient force of firemen, and to furnish them with all such fire engines, horses, accoutrements, tools, and implements as may be necessary for the complete equipment of the force, or conducive to the efficient performance of their duties. 5. The said Board, hereinafter referred to as the Board, may take on lease, purchase, or otherwise acquire stations for engines, stables, houses for firemen, and such other houses, buildings, or land as they may think requisite for carrying into effect the purposes of this Act, and may from time to time sell any property acquired by or vested in them for the purposes of this Act: The Board may also contract with any company or persons authorized to establish the same for the establishment of telegraphic communication between the several stations in which their fire engines or firemen are placed, and between any of such stations and other parts of the metropolis. 6. On and after the said first day of January one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, all stations, fire-engines, fire escapes, plant, and other property belonging to or used by the fire engine establishment of the insurance companies in the metropolis shall vest in or be conveyed or assigned to the Board for all the estate and interest of the said companies therein, upon trust to be applied by the Board to the purposes of this Act, but subject to all legal liabilities and obligations attaching thereto, including the payment of all pensions that have been granted to the members of the said Fire Engine Establishment, according to a list that has been furnished to the chairman of the said Board by the chief officer of the said fire-engine establishment, and all trustees for the same shall be indemnified against such liabilities and obligations. The Board may also, if they think fit, purchase the stations, fire-engines, and plant belonging to any parish, place, or body of persons within their jurisdiction. 7. The force of firemen established under this Act, hereinafter called the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, shall be under the command of an officer, to be called the chief officer of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. The chief officer and men composing the said fire brigade shall be appointed and removed at the pleasure of the Board. 8. The Board shall pay such salaries as they think expedient to the said fire brigade. They may also make such regulations as they think fit with respect to the compensation to be made to them in case of accident, or to their wives or families in case of their death; also with respect to the pensions or allowances to be paid to them in case of retirement; also with respect to the gratuities to be paid to persons giving notices of fires; also with respect to gratuities by way of a gross sum or annual payment to be from time to time awarded to any member of the said force, or to any other person, for extraordinary services performed in cases of fire; also with respect to gratuities to turncocks belonging to waterworks from which a supply of water is quickly derived. 9. The Board may by byelaws make regulations for the training, discipline, and good conduct of the men belonging to the said fire brigade, for their speedy attendance with engines, fire escapes, and all necessary implements on the occasion of any alarm of fire, and generally for the maintenance in a due state of efficiency of the said brigade, and may annex to any breach of such regulations penalties not exceeding in amount forty shillings, but no byelaw under this section shall be of any validity unless it is made and confirmed in manner directed by the Metropolis Local Management Acts; and all the provisions of the said Acts relating to byelaws shall, with the necessary variations, apply to any byelaws made in pursuance of this Act. 10. The vestry of any parish or place in the metropolis may allow such compensation as they think just to any engine keeper or other person employed in the service of fire engines who has hitherto been paid out of any rate raiseable in such parish or place, and who is deprived of his employment by or in consequence of the passing of this Act, and any compensation so allowed shall be paid out of the rate out of which the salary of the officer so compensated was payable. 11. The Board may make such arrangements as they think fit as to establishing fire escapes throughout the metropolis. They may for that purpose contribute to the funds of the Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire, or of any existing society that provides fire escapes, or may purchase or take by agreement the property of any existing society in their stations and fire escapes, and generally may maintain such fire escapes and do such things as they think expedient towards aiding persons to escape from fire; and any expenses incurred by them in pursuance of this section shall be deemed to be expenses incurred in carrying into effect this Act. 12. On the occasion of a fire, the chief or other officer in charge of the fire brigade may, in his discretion, take the command of any volunteer fire brigade or other persons who voluntarily place their services at his disposal, and may remove, or order any fireman to remove, any persons who interfere by their presence with the operations of the fire brigade, and generally he may take any measures that appear expedient for the protection of life and property, with power by himself or his men to break into or through, or take possession of, or pull down any premises for the purpose of putting an end to a fire, doing as little damage as possible; he may also on any such occasion cause the water to be shut off from the mains and pipes of any district, in order to give a greater supply and pressure of water in the district in which the fire has occurred; and no water company shall be liable to any penalty or claim by reason of any interruption of the supply of water occasioned only by compliance with the provisions of this section. All police constables shall be authorized to aid the fire brigade in the execution of their duties. They may close any street in or near which a fire is burning, and they may of their own motion, or on the request of the chief or other officer of the fire brigade, remove any persons who interfere by their presence with the operations of the fire brigade. Any damage occasioned by the fire brigade in the due execution of their duties shall be deemed to be damage by fire within the meaning of any policy of insurance against fire. _Expenses._ 13. Every insurance company that insures from fire any property in the metropolis shall pay annually to the Metropolitan Board of Works, by way of contribution toward the expenses of carrying this Act into effect, a sum after the rate of thirty-five pounds in the one million pounds on the gross amounts insured by it, except by way of reassurance, in respect of property in the metropolis for a year, and at a like rate for any fractional part of a million, and for any fractional part of a year as well as for any number of years for which the insurance may be made, renewed, or continued. The said payments by insurance companies shall be made quarterly in advance, on the 1st of January, 1st of April, 1st of July, and 1st of October in every year; the first of such payments to be made on the 1st of January one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, and such first payment and the other payments for the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six to be based upon the amounts insured by the several companies in respect of property in the metropolis in the year ending the twenty-fourth of December one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four: provided that any insurance company which at the time of the passing of this Act contributes to the expenses of the said fire engine establishment may, in respect of all payments to be made by it in the years one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six and one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, but not afterwards, contribute after the yearly rate of thirty-five pounds in one million pounds of the business in respect of which it contributes to the said fire engine establishment for the present year, according to a return which has been furnished to the chairman of the said Metropolitan Board, instead of in the manner in this Act provided. 14. All contributions due from an insurance company to the Board in pursuance of this Act shall be deemed to be specialty debts due from the company to the Board, and be recovered accordingly. 15. For the purpose of ascertaining the amount to be contributed by every such insurance company as aforesaid, every insurance company insuring property from fire in the metropolis shall, on the thirtieth day of December one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, with respect to the amounts insured in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and on the 1st of June one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, and on every succeeding 1st of June, or on such other days as the Metropolitan Board of Works may appoint, make a return to the said Board, in such form as they may require, of the gross amount insured by it in respect of property in the metropolis. There shall be annexed to the return so made a declaration made by the secretary or other officer performing the duties of secretary of the company by whom it is made, stating that he has examined the return with the books of the company, and that to the best of his knowledge, information, and belief, it contains a true and faithful account of the gross amount of the sums insured by the company to which he belongs in respect of property in the metropolis. The return made in the June of one year shall not come into effect till the 1st of January of the succeeding year, and shall be the basis of the contributions for that year. 16. If any insurance company makes default in making such returns to the Board as are required by this Act, it shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds for every day during which it is so in default. 17. The secretary or other officer having the custody of the books and papers of any insurance company that is required to pay a contribution to the Board in pursuance of this Act shall allow any officer appointed by the Board to inspect, during the hours of business, any books and papers that will enable him to ascertain the amount of property insured by such company in the metropolis, and the amount for which it is insured, and to make extracts from such books or papers; and any secretary or other such officer as aforesaid of a company failing to comply with the requisitions of this section in respect of such inspections and extracts shall be liable on summary conviction to a penalty not exceeding five pounds for each offence. 18. The Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury shall pay or cause to be paid to the Board by way of contribution to the expenses of maintaining the fire brigade such sums as Parliament may from time to time grant for that purpose, not exceeding in any one year the sum of ten thousand pounds. 19. For the purpose of defraying all expenses that may be incurred by the Board in carrying into effect this Act which are not otherwise provided for, the Board may from time to time issue their precepts to the overseers of the poor of every parish or place within the metropolis, requiring the overseers to pay over the amount mentioned in the precepts to the Treasurer of the Board, or into a bank to be named in the precepts, within forty days from the delivery of the precept. The overseers shall comply with the requisitions of any such precept by paying the sums mentioned out of any monies in their hands applicable to the relief of the poor, or by levying the amount required as part of the rate for the relief of the poor, but no contribution required to be paid by any parish or place under this section shall exceed in the whole in any one year the rate of one halfpenny in the pound on the full and fair annual value of property rateable to the relief of the poor within the said parish or place, such full and fair annual value to be computed in all parts of the metropolis, exclusive of the city of London, according to the last valuation for the time being acted on in assessing the county rate, or, where there is no county rate, according to a like estimate or basis; and no liberty, precinct, or place, shall be exempt from the rate leviable for the purposes of this Act by reason of its being extra-parochial or otherwise; and in default of proper officers in any liberty, precinct, or place, to assess or levy the said rate, the Board may appoint such officers, and add the amount of any expenses so incurred to the amount to be raised by the next succeeding rate in such liberty, precinct, or place. Overseers shall, for the purposes of levying any amount required to be levied by them under this Act, have the same powers and be subject to the same obligations as in levying a rate for the relief of the poor. The word "Overseers" shall include any persons or bodies of persons authorized or required to make and collect or cause to be collected rates applicable to the relief of the poor; and such persons or bodies shall pay to the Board the amount so mentioned in the precept out of the said rates. 20. In case the amount ordered by any such precept as aforesaid to be paid by the overseers of any parish or place be not paid in manner directed by such precept and within the time therein specified for that purpose, it shall be lawful for any justice of the peace, upon the complaint by the Board or by any person authorized by the Board, to issue his warrant for levying the amount or so much thereof as may be in arrear by distress and sale of the goods of all or any of the said overseers, and in case the goods of all the overseers be not sufficient to pay the same, the arrears thereof shall be added to the amount of the next levy which is directed to be made in such parish or place for the purposes of this Act, and shall be collected by the like methods. 21. The Board may, with the consent of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, borrow any sum not exceeding forty thousand pounds, and apply the same for the purposes of this Act; and all powers contained in the Metropolis Local Management Acts authorizing the Board to borrow money, or any commissioners or persons to lend money to the Board, and all other provisions as to the mode of borrowing, the repayment of principal or interest, or in anywise relating to borrowing by the Board, shall be deemed to apply and to extend to this Act in the same manner as if the monies borrowed in pursuance of this Act were monies borrowed for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the Metropolis Local Management Acts, or one or more of those acts. The Board shall apply the monies received by them under this Act in liquidation of the principal and interest of the monies so borrowed, but no creditor shall be concerned to see to such application, or be liable for any misapplication of the monies received or borrowed by the Board in pursuance of this Act. MISCELLANEOUS. 22. Where any chief officer, or other person who has been employed by the Board in any capacity under this Act, and has been discharged therefrom, continues to occupy any house or building that may be provided for his use, or any part thereof, after one week's notice in writing from the Board to deliver up possession thereof, it shall be lawful for any police magistrate, on the oath of one witness, stating such notice to have been given, by warrant under his hand to order any constable to enter into the house or building occupied by such discharged chief officer or other person as aforesaid, and to remove him and his family and servants therefrom, and afterwards to deliver the possession thereof to the Board, as effectually, to all intents and purposes, as the sheriff having jurisdiction within the place where such house or building is situate might lawfully do by virtue of a writ of possession or a judgment at law. 23. If the chimney of any house or other building within the metropolis is on fire, the occupier of such house or building shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty shillings; but if such occupier proves that he has incurred such penalty by reason of the neglect or wilful default of any other person, he may recover summarily from such person the whole or any part of the penalty he may have incurred as occupier. 24. All penalties imposed by this Act, or by any byelaw made in pursuance thereof, and all expenses and other sums due to the Board in pursuance of this Act, in respect of which no mode of recovery is prescribed, may be recovered summarily before two justices in manner directed by the Act of the session holden in the eleventh and twelfth years of the reign of her present Majesty, chapter forty-three, or any Act amending the same, and when so recovered shall be paid to the treasurer of the Board, notwithstanding any police act or other act of parliament directing a different appropriation of such monies. 25. Any dispute or other matter which is by this Act directed to be determined summarily by two justices shall be deemed to be a matter in respect of which a complaint is made upon which they have authority by law to make an order for payment of money within the meaning of the said Act of the session holden in the eleventh and twelfth years of the reign of her present Majesty, chapter forty-three, or any Act amending the same. 26. Any act, power, or jurisdiction hereby authorized to be done or exercised by two justices may be done or exercised by the following magistrates within their respective jurisdictions; that is to say, by any metropolitan police magistrate sitting alone at a police court or other appointed place, or by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, or any alderman of the said City, sitting alone or with others at the Mansion House or Guildhall. 27. The accounts of the Board in respect of expenses incurred by them under this Act shall be audited in the same manner as if they were expenses incurred under the said Metropolis Local Management Acts, and the Board shall in each year make a report to one of her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State of all acts done and expenditure incurred by them in pursuance of this Act, and that report shall be laid before Parliament within one month after the commencement of the session. 28. The Board may delegate any powers conferred on them by this Act to a committee of their body; and such committee shall, to the extent to which such powers are delegated, be deemed to be the Board within the meaning of this Act. 29. If the companies insuring property within the metropolis, or any such number of them as may in the opinion of the said Board be sufficient, establish a force of men charged with the duty of attending at fires and saving insured property, it shall be the duty of the Fire Brigade, with the sanction of the Board, and subject to any regulations that may be made by the Board, to afford the necessary assistance to that force in the performance of their duties, and, upon the application of any officer of that force, to hand over to their custody property that may be saved from fire; and no charge shall be made by the said Board for the services thus rendered by the fire brigade. 30. It shall be lawful for the Board, when occasion requires, to permit any part of the fire brigade establishment, with their engines, escapes, and other implements, to proceed beyond the limits of the metropolis for the purpose of extinguishing fires. In such case the owner and occupier of the property where the fire has occurred shall be jointly and severally liable to defray all the expenses that may be incurred by the Fire Brigade in attending the fire, and shall pay to the Board a reasonable charge for the attendance of the Fire Brigade, and the use of their engines, escapes, and other implements. In case of difference between the Board and the owner and occupier of such property, or either of them, the amount of the expenses, as well as the propriety of the Fire Brigade attending such fire (if the propriety thereof be disputed), shall be summarily determined by two justices. In default of payment, any expenses under this section may be recovered by the Board in a summary manner. The Board may also permit any part of the Fire Brigade Establishment to be employed on special services upon such terms of remuneration as the said Board may think just. 31. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade shall in the morning of each day, with the exception of Sundays, send information, by post or otherwise, to all the insurance offices contributing for the purposes of this Act, of all fires which have taken place within the metropolis since the preceding return, in such form as may be agreed upon between the Board and the said companies. 32. All the powers now exercised by any local body or officer within the metropolis as respects fireplugs shall henceforth be exercised by the Board, and the Board shall be entitled to receive copies or extracts of all plans kept by any water company under the provision of the Act of the session of the fifteenth and sixteenth years of her Majesty, chapter eighty-four; and every such water company shall provide at the expense of the Board in any mains or pipes within the metropolis plugs for the supply of water in case of fire at such places, of such dimensions, and in such form as the Board may require, and the Fire Brigade shall be at liberty to make such use thereof as they may deem necessary for the purpose of extinguishing any fire; and every such company shall deposit keys of all their fireplugs at such places as may be appointed by the Board, and the Board may put up on any house or building a public notice in some conspicuous place in each street in which a fireplug is situated, showing its situation. 33. "Owner" in this Act shall mean the person for the time being receiving the rackrent of the premises in connexion with which the word is used, either on his own account or as agent or trustee for some other person, or who would receive the same if the premises were let at rackrent. _Repeal._ 34. On and after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, there shall be repealed so much as is unrepealed of an Act passed in the fourteenth year of his late Majesty King George the Third, chapter seventy-eight, and intituled an Act for the further and better regulation of buildings and party walls, and for the more effectually preventing mischief by fire, within the Cities of London and Westminster and the liberties thereof, and other the parishes, precincts, and places within the weekly bills of mortality, the parishes of St. Marylebone, Paddington, St. Pancras, and St. Luke, at Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, and for indemnifying, under certain conditions, builders and other persons against the penalties to which they are or may be liable for erecting buildings within the limits aforesaid contrary to law, with the exception of sections eighty-three and eighty-six which shall remain in full force, but such repeal shall not affect any penalty or liability incurred under the repealed sections. 35. On and after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, section forty-four of an Act passed in the session holden in the third and fourth years of the reign of King William the Fourth, chapter ninety, shall be repealed so far as respects any parish or place within the limits of the metropolis as defined by this Act; provided that the repeal of the said section shall not affect the power of the churchwardens and overseers of any parish or place to contribute to the funds of any society that at the time of the passing of this Act maintains fire escapes in such parish or place, unless and until the Board purchase the property of such society, or otherwise provide fire escapes in such parish or place. * * * * * In accordance with the provisions of the above recited Act of Parliament, the London Fire Brigade of the Insurance Offices is now being extended to meet the requirements of the whole of London, under the title of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, with Captain E. M. Shaw, Mr. Braidwood's successor, as chief officer. LONDON: SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET, COVENT GARDEN. * * * * * Transcriber's Notes Variations in spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, and punctuation have been retained from the original book. The Table of Contents and List of Illustrations do not exactly match the chapter, section, and illustration titles in the text. The following changes have been made: Page 70: Missing word "of" added (avail themselves of the means). Page 183: Typo estalishment changed to establishment (establishment of telegraphic communication). Tables in the Appendix have been modified in format, but not in content, to fit the plain-text spacing constraints. 
28255	----	Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties [Illustration: Hunter's cabin showing how projecting logs may be utilized.] Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties By D. C. BEARD With Illustrations by the Author NEW YORK Charles Scribner's Sons 1916 COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS Published September, 1914 DEDICATED TO DANIEL BARTLETT BEARD BECAUSE OF HIS LOVE OF THE BIG OUTDOORS FOREWORD As this book is written for boys of all ages, it has been divided under two general heads, "The Tomahawk Camps" and "The Axe Camps," that is, camps which may be built with no tool but a hatchet, and camps that will need the aid of an axe. The smallest boys can build some of the simple shelters and the older boys can build the more difficult ones. The reader may, if he likes, begin with the first of the book, build his way through it, and graduate by building the log houses; in doing this he will be closely following the history of the human race, because ever since our arboreal ancestors with prehensile toes scampered among the branches of the pre-glacial forests and built nestlike shelters in the trees, men have made themselves shacks for a temporary refuge. But as one of the members of the Camp-Fire Club of America, as one of the founders of the Boy Scouts of America, and as the founder of the Boy Pioneers of America, it would not be proper for the author to admit for one moment that there can be such a thing as a camp without a _camp-fire_, and for that reason the tree folks and the "missing link" whose remains were found in Java, and to whom the scientists gave the awe-inspiring name of Pithecanthropus erectus, cannot be counted as campers, because _they did not know how to build a camp-fire_; neither can we admit the ancient maker of stone implements, called eoliths, to be one of us, because he, too, knew not the joys of a camp-fire. But there was another fellow, called the Neanderthal man, who lived in the ice age in Europe and he _had_ to be a camp-fire man or freeze! As far as we know, he was the first man to build a camp-fire. The cold weather made him hustle, and hustling developed him. True, he did cook and eat his neighbors once in a while, and even split their bones for the marrow; but we will forget that part and just remember him as the first camper in Europe. Recently a pygmy skeleton was discovered near Los Angeles which is claimed to be about twenty thousand years old, but we do not know whether this man knew how to build a fire or not. We do know, however, that the American camper was here on this continent when our Bible was yet an unfinished manuscript and that he was building his fires, toasting his venison, and building "sheds" when the red-headed Eric settled in Greenland, when Thorwald fought with the "Skraelings," and Biarni's dragon ship made the trip down the coast of Vineland about the dawn of the Christian era. We also know that the American camper was here when Columbus with his comical toy ships was blundering around the West Indies. We also know that the American camper watched Henry Hudson steer the _Half Moon_ around Manhattan Island. It is this same American camper who has taught us to build many of the shacks to be found in the following pages. The shacks, sheds, shanties, and shelters described in the following pages are, all of them, similar to those used by the people on this continent or suggested by the ones in use and are typically American; and the designs are suited to the arctics, the tropics, and temperate climes; also to the plains, the mountains, the desert, the bog, and even the water. It seems to be natural and proper to follow the camp as it grows until it develops into a somewhat pretentious log house, but this book must not be considered as competing in any manner with professional architects. The buildings here suggested require a woodsman more than an architect; the work demands more the skill of the axeman than that of the carpenter and joiner. The log houses are supposed to be buildings which any real outdoor man should be able to erect by himself and for himself. Many of the buildings have already been built in many parts of the country by Boy Pioneers and Boy Scouts. This book is not intended as an encyclopedia or history of primitive architecture; the bureaus at Washington, and the Museum of Natural History, are better equipped for that purpose than the author. The boys will undoubtedly acquire a dexterity and skill in building the shacks and shanties here described, which will be of lasting benefit to them whether they acquire the skill by building camps "just for the fun of the thing" or in building them for the more practical purpose of furnishing shelter for overnight pleasure hikes, for the wilderness trail, or for permanent camps while living in the open. It has been the writer's experience that the readers depend more upon his diagrams than they do upon the written matter in his books, and so in this book he has again attempted to make the diagrams self-explanatory. The book was written in answer to requests by many people interested in the Boy Scout movement and others interested in the general activities of boys, and also in answer to the personal demands of hundreds of boys and many men. The drawings are all original and many of them invented by the author himself and published here for the first time, for the purpose of supplying all the boy readers, the Boy Scouts, and other older "boys," calling themselves Scoutmasters and sportsmen, with practical hints, drawings, and descriptions showing how to build suitable shelters for temporary or permanent camps. DANIEL CARTER BEARD. FLUSHING, LONG ISLAND, APRIL 1, 1914. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE FOREWORD v I. WHERE TO FIND MOUNTAIN GOOSE. HOW TO PICK AND USE ITS FEATHERS 1 II. THE HALF-CAVE SHELTER 7 III. HOW TO MAKE THE FALLEN-TREE SHELTER AND THE SCOUT-MASTER 11 IV. HOW TO MAKE THE ADIRONDACK, THE WICK-UP, THE BARK TEEPEE, THE PIONEER, AND THE SCOUT 15 V. HOW TO MAKE BEAVER-MAT HUTS, OR FAGOT SHACKS, WITHOUT INJURY TO THE TREES 18 VI. INDIAN SHACKS AND SHELTERS 22 VII. BIRCH BARK OR TAR PAPER SHACK 27 VIII. INDIAN COMMUNAL HOUSES 31 IX. BARK AND TAR PAPER 36 X. A SAWED-LUMBER SHANTY 39 XI. A SOD HOUSE FOR THE LAWN 47 XII. HOW TO BUILD ELEVATED SHACKS, SHANTIES, AND SHELTERS 52 XIII. THE BOG KEN 54 XIV. OVER-WATER CAMPS 62 XV. SIGNAL-TOWER, GAME LOOKOUT, AND RUSTIC OBSERVATORY 65 XVI. TREE-TOP HOUSES 72 XVII. CACHES 77 XVIII. HOW TO USE AN AXE 83 XIX. HOW TO SPLIT LOGS, MAKE SHAKES, SPLITS, OR CLAPBOARDS. HOW TO CHOP A LOG IN HALF. HOW TO FLATTEN A LOG. ALSO SOME DON'TS 87 XX. AXEMEN'S CAMPS 92 XXI. RAILROAD-TIE SHACKS, BARREL SHACKS, AND CHIMEHUEVIS 96 XXII. THE BARABARA 100 XXIII. THE NAVAJO HOGAN, HORNADAY DUGOUT, AND SOD HOUSE 104 XXIV. HOW TO BUILD AN AMERICAN BOY'S HOGAN 107 XXV. HOW TO CUT AND NOTCH LOGS 115 XXVI. NOTCHED LOG LADDERS 119 XXVII. A POLE HOUSE. HOW TO USE A CROSS-CUT SAW AND A FROE 122 XXVIII. LOG-ROLLING AND OTHER BUILDING STUNTS 126 XXIX. THE ADIRONDACK OPEN LOG CAMP AND A ONE-ROOM CABIN 129 XXX. THE NORTHLAND TILT AND INDIAN LOG TENT 132 XXXI. HOW TO BUILD THE RED JACKET, THE NEW BRUNSWICK, AND THE CHRISTOPHER GIST 135 XXXII. CABIN DOORS AND DOOR-LATCHES, THUMB-LATCHES AND FOOT LATCHES AND HOW TO MAKE THEM 139 XXXIII. SECRET LOCKS 145 XXXIV. HOW TO MAKE THE BOW-ARROW CABIN DOOR AND LATCH AND THE DEMING TWIN BOLTS, HALL, AND BILLY 151 XXXV. THE AURES LOCK LATCH 155 XXXVI. THE AMERICAN LOG CABIN 161 XXXVII. A HUNTER'S OR FISHERMAN'S CABIN 169 XXXVIII. HOW TO MAKE A WYOMING OLEBO, A HOKO RIVER OLEBO, A SHAKE CABIN, A CANADIAN MOSSBACK, AND A TWO-PEN OR SOUTHERN SADDLE-BAG HOUSE 171 XXXIX. NATIVE NAMES FOR THE PARTS OF A KANUCK LOG CABIN, AND HOW TO BUILD ONE 177 XL. HOW TO MAKE A POLE HOUSE AND HOW TO MAKE A UNIQUE BUT THOROUGHLY AMERICAN TOTEM LOG HOUSE 183 XLI. HOW TO BUILD A SUSITNA LOG CABIN AND HOW TO CUT TREES FOR THE END PLATES 191 XLII. HOW TO MAKE A FIREPLACE AND CHIMNEY FOR A SIMPLE LOG CABIN 195 XLIII. HEARTHSTONES AND FIREPLACES 200 XLIV. MORE HEARTHS AND FIREPLACES 203 XLV. FIREPLACES AND THE ART OF TENDING THE FIRE 206 XLVI. THE BUILDING OF THE LOG HOUSE 211 XLVII. HOW TO LAY A TAR PAPER, BIRCH BARK, OR PATENT ROOFING 218 XLVIII. HOW TO MAKE A CONCEALED LOG CABIN INSIDE OF A MODERN HOUSE 230 XLIX. HOW TO BUILD APPROPRIATE GATEWAYS FOR GROUNDS ENCLOSING LOG HOUSES, GAME PRESERVES, RANCHES, BIG COUNTRY ESTATES, AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST BOY SCOUTS' CAMP GROUNDS 237 Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties SHELTERS, SHACKS, AND SHANTIES I WHERE TO FIND MOUNTAIN GOOSE. HOW TO PICK AND USE ITS FEATHERS IT may be necessary for me to remind the boys that they must use the material at hand in building their shacks, shelters, sheds, and shanties, and that they are very fortunate if their camp is located in a country where the mountain goose is to be found. The Mountain Goose From Labrador down to the northwestern borders of New England and New York and from thence to southwestern Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, the woodsman and camper may make their beds from the feathers of the "mountain goose." The mountain goose is also found inhabiting the frozen soil of Alaska and following the Pacific and the Rocky Mountains the Abies make their dwelling-place as far south as Guatemala. Consequently, the Abies, or mountain goose, should be a familiar friend of all the scouts who live in the mountainous country, north, south, east, and west. Sapin--Cho-kho-tung I forgot to say that the mountain goose (Figs. 1 and 2) is not a bird but a tree. It is humorously called a goose by the woodsmen because they all make their beds of its "feathers." It is the _sapin_ of the French-Canadians, the _cho-kho-tung_ of the New York Indians, the balsam of the tenderfoot, the Christmas-tree of the little folk, and that particular Coniferæ known by the dry-as-dust botanist as Abies. There is nothing in nature which has a wilder, more sylvan and charming perfume than the balsam, and the scout who has not slept in the woods on a balsam bed has a pleasure in store for him. Balsam The leaves of the balsam are blunt or rounded at the ends and some of them are even dented or notched in place of being sharp-pointed. Each spine or leaf is a scant one inch in length and very flat; the upper part is grooved and of a dark bluish-green color. The under-side is much lighter, often almost silvery white. The balsam blossoms in April or May, and the fruit or cones stand upright on the branches. These vary from two to four inches in length. The balsam-trees are seldom large, not many of them being over sixty feet high with trunks from one to less than three feet through. The bark on the trunks is gray in color and marked with horizontal rows of blisters. Each of these contains a small, sticky sap like glycerine. Fig. 1 shows the cone and leaves of one of the Southern balsams known as the she-balsam, and Fig. 2 shows the celebrated balsam-fir tree of the north country, cone and branch. Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Fig. 6. Fig. 7. [Illustration: Showing the use of the mountain goose.] Balsam Beds The balsam bed is made of the small twigs of balsam-trees. In gathering these, collect twigs of different lengths, from eighteen inches long (to be used as the foundation of the bed) to ten or twelve inches long (for the top layer). If you want to rest well, do not economize on the amount you gather; many a time I have had my bones ache as a result of being too tired to make my bed properly and attempting to sleep on a thin layer of boughs. If you attempt to chop off the boughs of balsam they will resent your effort by springing back and slapping you in the face. You can cut them with your knife, but it is slow work and will blister your hands. Take twig by twig with the thumb and fingers (the thumb on top, pointing toward the tip of the bough, and the two forefingers underneath); press down with the thumb, and with a twist of the wrist you can snap the twigs like pipe-stems. Fig. 3 shows two views of the hands in a proper position to snap off twigs easily and clean. The one at the left shows the hand as it would appear looking down upon it; the one at the right shows the view as you look at it from the side. Packing Boughs After collecting a handful of boughs, string them on a stick which you have previously prepared (Fig. 4). This stick should be of strong, green hardwood, four or five feet long with a fork about six inches long left on it at the butt end to keep the boughs from sliding off, and sharpened at the upper end so that it can be easily poked through a handful of boughs. String the boughs on this stick as you would string fish, but do it one handful at a time, allowing the butts to point in different directions. It is astonishing to see the amount of boughs you can carry when strung on a stick in this manner and thrown over your shoulder as in Fig. 5. If you have a lash rope, place the boughs on a loop of the rope, as in Fig. 6, then bring the two ends of the rope up through the loop and sling the bundle on your back. Clean Your Hands When you have finished gathering the material for your bed your hands will be covered with a sticky sap, and, although they will be a sorry sight, a little lard or baking grease will soften the pitchy substance so that it may be washed off with soap and water. How to Make Beds To make your bed, spread a layer of the larger boughs on the ground; commence at the head and shingle them down to the foot so that the tips point toward the head of the bed, overlapping the butts (Fig. 7). Continue this until your mattress is thick enough to make a soft couch upon which you can sleep as comfortably as you do at home. Cover the couch with one blanket and use the bag containing your coat, extra clothes, and sweater for a pillow. Then if you do not sleep well, you must blame the cook. Other Bedding If you should happen to be camping in a country destitute of balsam, hemlock, or pine, you can make a good spring mattress by collecting small green branches of any sort of tree which is springy and elastic. Build the mattress as already described. On top of this put a thick layer of hay, straw, or dry leaves or even green material, provided you have a rubber blanket or poncho to cover the latter. In Kentucky I have made a mattress of this description and covered the branches with a thick layer of the purple blossoms of ironweed; over this I spread a rubber army blanket to keep out the moisture from the green stuff and on top of this made my bed with my other blankets. It was as comfortable a couch as I have ever slept on; in fact, it was literally a bed of flowers. II THE HALF-CAVE SHELTER THE first object of a roof of any kind is protection against the weather; no shelter is necessary in fair weather unless the sun in the day or the dampness or coolness of the night cause discomfort. In parts of the West there is so little rain that a tent is often an unnecessary burden, but in the East and the other parts of the country some sort of shelter is necessary for health and comfort. The original American was always quick to see the advantages offered by an overhanging cliff for a camp site (Figs. 9, 10). His simple camps all through the arid Southwest had gradually turned into carefully built houses long before we came here. The overhanging cliffs protected the buildings from the rain and weather, and the site was easily defended from enemies. But while these cliff-dwellings had reached the dignity of castles in the Southwest, in the Eastern States--Pennsylvania, for instance--the Iroquois Indians were making primitive camps and using every available overhanging cliff for that purpose. To-day any one may use a pointed stick on the floor of one of these half caves and unearth, as I have done, numerous potsherds, mussel shells, bone awls, flint arrow-heads, split bones of large game animals, and the burnt wood of centuries of camp-fires which tell the tale of the first lean-to shelter used by camping man in America. Half Caves The projecting ledges of bluestone that have horizontal seams form half caves from the falling apart of the lower layers of the cliff caused by rain and ice and often aided by the fine roots of the black birch, rock oak, and other plants, until nature has worked long enough as a quarry-man and produced half caves large enough to shelter a stooping man (Figs. 8, 9, and 10). Although not always necessary, it is sometimes best to make a shelter for the open face of such a cave, even if we only need it for a temporary camp (Fig. 10); this may be done by resting poles slanting against the face of the cliff and over these making a covering of balsam, pine, hemlock, palmetto, palm branches, or any available material for thatch to shed the rain and prevent it driving under the cliff to wet our bedding. Walls It is not always necessary to thatch the wall; a number of green boughs with leaves adhering may be rested against the cliffs and will answer for that purpose. Set the boughs upside down so that they will shed the rain and not hold it so as to drip into camp. Use your common sense and gumption, which will teach you that all the boughs should point downward and not upward as most of them naturally grow. I am careful to call your attention to this because I lately saw some men teaching Boy Scouts how to make camps and they were placing the boughs for the lads around the shelter with their branches pointing upward in such a manner that they could not shed the rain. These instructors were city men and apparently thought that the boughs were for no other purpose than to give privacy to the occupants of the shelter, forgetting that in the wilds the wilderness itself furnishes privacy. Fig. 8. Fig. 9. Fig. 10. [Illustration: The half-cave shelter.] The half cave was probably the first lean-to or shelter in this country, but overhanging cliffs are not always found where we wish to make our camp and we must resort to other forms of shelter and the use of other material in such localities. III HOW TO MAKE THE FALLEN-TREE SHELTER AND THE SCOUT-MASTER NOW that you know how to make a bed in a half cave, we will take up the most simple and primitive manufactured shelters. Fallen-Tree Shelter For a one-man one-night stand, select a thick-foliaged fir-tree and cut it partly through the trunk so that it will fall as shown in Fig. 11; then trim off the branches on the under-side so as to leave room to make your bed beneath the branches; next trim the branches off the top or roof of the trunk and with them thatch the roof. Do this by setting the branches with their butts up as shown in the right-hand shelter of Fig. 13, and then thatch with smaller browse as described in making the bed. This will make a cosey one-night shelter. The Scout-Master Or take three forked sticks (_A_, _B_, and _C_, Fig. 12), and interlock the forked ends so that they will stand as shown in Fig. 12. Over this framework rest branches with the butt ends up as shown in the right-hand shelter (Fig. 13), or lay a number of poles as shown in the left-hand figure (Fig. 12) and thatch this with browse as illustrated by the left-hand shelter in Fig. 13, or take elm, spruce, or birch bark and shingle as in Fig. 14. These shelters may be built for one boy or they may be made large enough for several men. They may be thatched with balsam, spruce, pine, or hemlock boughs, or with cat-tails, rushes (see Figs. 66 and 69) or any kind of long-stemmed weeds or palmetto leaves. To Peel Bark In the first place, I trust that the reader has enough common sense and sufficient love of the woods to prevent him from killing or marring and disfiguring trees where trees are not plenty, and this restriction includes all settled or partially settled parts of the country. But in the real forests and wilderness, miles and miles away from human habitation, there are few campers and consequently there will be fewer trees injured, and these few will not be missed. Selecting Bark To get the birch bark, select a tree with a smooth trunk devoid of branches and, placing skids for the trunk to fall upon (Fig. 38), fell the tree (see Figs. 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, and 118), and then cut a circle around the trunk at the two ends of the log and a slit from one circle clean up to the other circle (Fig. 38); next, with a sharp stick shaped like a blunt-edged chisel, pry off the bark carefully until you take the piece off in one whole section. If it is spruce bark or any other bark you seek, hunt through the woods for a comparatively smooth trunk and proceed in the same manner as with the birch. To take it off a standing tree, cut one circle down at the butt and another as high as you can reach (Fig. 118) and slit it along a perpendicular line connecting the two cuts as in Fig. 38. This will doubtless in time kill the tree, but far from human habitations the few trees killed in this manner may do the forest good by giving more room for others to grow. Near town or where the forests are small use the bark from the old dead trees. Fig. 11. Fig. 12. Fig. 13. Fig. 14. [Illustration: One-night shelter. The fallen tree and the scout-master.] Using Bark To shingle with bark, cut the bark in convenient sections, commence at the bottom, place one piece of bark set on edge flat against the wall of your shelter, place a piece of bark next to it in the same manner, allowing the one edge to overlap the first piece a few inches, and so on all the way around your shack; then place a layer of bark above this in the same manner as the first one, the end edges overlapping, the bottom edges also overlapping the first row three or four inches or even more. Hold these pieces of bark in place by stakes driven in the ground against them or poles laid over them, according to the shape or form of your shelter. Continue thus to the comb of the roof, then over the part where the bark of the sides meets on the top lay another layer of bark covering the crown, ridge, comb, or apex and protecting it from the rain. In the wigwam-shaped shelters, or rather I should say those of teepee form, the point of the cone or pyramid is left open to serve as chimney for smoke to escape. IV HOW TO MAKE THE ADIRONDACK, THE WICK-UP, THE BARK TEEPEE, THE PIONEER, AND THE SCOUT The Adirondack THE next shelter is what is generally known as the Adirondack shelter, which is a lean-to open in the front like a "Baker" or a "Dan Beard" tent. Although it is popularly called the Adirondack camp, it antedates the time when the Adirondacks were first used as a fashionable resort. Daniel Boone was wont to make such a camp in the forests of Kentucky. The lean-to or Adirondack camp is easily made and very popular. Sometimes two of them are built facing each other with an open space between for the camp-fire. But the usual manner is to set up two uprights as in Fig. 15, then lay a crosspiece through the crotches and rest poles against this crosspiece (Fig. 16). Over these poles other poles are laid horizontally and the roof thatched with browse by the method shown by Fig. 6, but here the tips of the browse must point down and be held in place by other poles (Fig. 10) on top of it. Sometimes a log is put at the bottom of the slanting poles and sometimes more logs are placed as shown in Figs. 15 and 16 and the space between them floored with balsam or browse. The Scout Where birch bark is obtainable it is shingled with slabs of this bark as already described, and as shown in Fig. 17, the bark being held in place on the roof by poles laid over it and on the side by stakes being driven in the ground outside of the bark to hold it in place as in Fig. 17. Fig. 15. Fig. 16. Fig. 17. Fig. 18. Fig. 19. Fig. 20. Fig. 21. [Illustration: The Adirondack. The scout, the pioneer, and the bark teepee.] The Pioneer Fig. 18 shows the Pioneer, a tent form of shack, and Fig. 19 shows how the bark is placed like shingles overlapping each other so as to shed the rain. The doorway of the tent shack is made by leaning poles against forked sticks, their butts forming a semicircle in front, or rather the arc of a circle, and by bracing them against the forked stick fore and aft they add stability to the structure. Bark Teepee Or you may, if you choose, lash three sticks together at the top ends, spread them in the form of a tripod, then lay other sticks against them, their butts forming a circle in the form of a teepee (Fig. 20). Commence at the bottom as you do in shingling a roof and place sections of birch bark around, others above them overlapping them, and hold them in place by resting poles against them. If your camp is to be occupied for a week or so, it may be convenient to build a wick-up shelter as a dining-room like the one shown in Fig. 21. This is made with six uprights, two to hold the ridge-pole and two to hold the eaves, and may be shingled over with browse or birch, elm, spruce, or other bark; shingle with the browse in the same manner as that described for the bark, beginning at the eaves and allowing each row of browse to overlap the butts of the one below it. V HOW TO MAKE BEAVER-MAT HUTS OR FAGOT SHACKS WITHOUT INJURY TO THE TREES Material IN building a shelter use every and any thing handy for the purpose; ofttimes an uprooted tree will furnish a well-made adobe wall, where the spreading roots have torn off the surface soil as the tree fell and what was the under-side is now an exposed wall of clay, against which you may rest the poles for the roof of a lean-to. Or the side of the cliff (Fig. 23) may offer you the same opportunity. Maybe two or three trees will be found willing to act as uprights (Fig. 24). Where you use a wall of any kind, rock, roots, or bank, it will, of course, be necessary to have your doorway at one side of the shack as in Fig. 23. The upright poles may be on stony ground where their butts cannot well be planted in the earth, and there it will be necessary to brace them with slanting poles (Fig. 25). Each camp will offer problems of its own, problems which add much to the interest and pleasure of camp making. Beaver Mat The beaver-mat camp is a new one and, under favorable conditions, a good one. Cut your poles the length required for the framework of the sides, lash them together with the green rootlets of the tamarack or strips of bark of the papaw, elm, cedar, or the inside bark of the chestnut (_A_, Fig. 22); then make a bed of browse of any kind handy, but make it in the manner described for making balsam beds (Fig. 7). You will, of course, thatch so that when the side is erected it is shingled like a house, the upper rows overlapping the lower ones. Then lash a duplicate frame over the browse-padded frame and the side is complete (_B_, Fig. 22). Make the other side or sides and the roof (_C_, Fig. 22) in the same manner, after which it is a simple matter to erect your shack (Fig. 22, and _E_, Fig. 22). Fig. 22. Fig. 23. Fig. 24. Fig. 25. Fig. 26. Fig. 27. Fig. 28. [Illustration: Shelters adapted to conditions. The beaver-mat and the fagot shack.] The great advantage of this sort of shelter is that it is much easier to do your thatching on the ground than on standing walls, and also, when done, it is so compact as to be practically water-proof. Fagot Shack The fagot shack is also a new style of camp and is intended for use in places where large timber cannot be cut, but where dwarf willows, bamboo cane, alders, or other small underbrush is more or less plentiful. From this gather a plentiful supply of twigs and with improvised twine bind the twigs into bundles of equal size. Use these bundles as you would stones in building the wall and lay them so as to break joints, that is, so that the joints are never in a continuous line. Hold the wall in place by stakes as shown in Fig. 26. Use the browse, small twigs with the leaves adhering to them, in place of mortar or cement so as to level your bundles and prevent their rocking on uneven surfaces. The doorways and window openings offer no problem that a rank outsider cannot solve. Fig. 27 shows the window opening, also shows you how the window-sill can be made firm by laying rods over the top of the fagots. Rods are also used across the top of the doorway upon which to place the bundles of fagots or twigs. Twigs is probably the best term to use here, as fagots might be thought to mean larger sticks, which may be stiff and obstinate and hard to handle. Roofs After the walls are erected, a beaver-mat roof may be placed upon them or a roof made on a frame such as shown in Fig. 28 and thatched with small sticks over which a thatch of straw, hay, rushes (Figs. 66 and 69), or browse may be used to shed the rain. One great advantage which recommends the beaver-mat and fagot camp to lovers of nature and students of forestry lies in the fact that it is unnecessary to cut down or destroy a single large or valuable young tree in order to procure the material necessary to make the camp. Both of these camps can be made in forest lands by using the lower branches of the trees, which, when properly cut close to the trunk (Fig. 121), do not injure the standing timber. The fagot hut may be made into a permanent camp by plastering the outside with soft mud or clay and treating the inside walls in the same manner, thus transforming it into an adobe shack. VI INDIAN SHACKS AND SHELTERS WHILE the ingenuity of the white man may make improvements upon the wick-ups, arbors, huts, and shelters of the native red man, we must not forget that these native shelters have been used with success by the Indians for centuries, also we must not forget that our principal objection to many of them lies in the fact that they are ill ventilated and dirty, both of which defects may be remedied without materially departing from the lines laid down by the savage architects. The making of windows will supply ventilation to Indian huts, but the form of the hut we must bear in mind is made to suit the locality in which we find it. Apache Hogan The White Mountain Apache builds a tent-shaped shack (Figs. 29 and 32) which is practically the same as that already described and shown in Figs. 18 and 19, the difference being that the Apache shack is not covered with birch bark, a material peculiar to the North, but the Apache uses a thatch of the rank grass to be found where his shacks are located. To-day, however, the White Mountain Apache has become so degenerate and so lost to the true sense of dignity as a savage that he stoops to use corn-stalks with which to thatch the long, sloping sides of his shed-like house but by so doing he really shows good horse sense, for corn-stalks and corn leaves make good material for the purpose. Fig. 29. Fig. 30. Fig. 31. Fig. 32. Fig. 33. Fig. 34. Fig. 34½. Fig. 35. [Illustration: Designs adapted from Indian models.] San Carlos Shack The San Carlos Apache Indians build a dome-shaped hut by making a framework of small saplings bent in arches as the boys did in Kentucky when the writer was himself a lad, and as shown in Fig. 30. The ends of the pole are sunk into the ground in the form of a circle, while their tips are bent over and bound together thus forming a series of loops which overlap each other and give stability and support to the principal loops which run from the ground to the top of the dome. The Indians thatch these huts with bear-grass arranged in overlapping rows and held in place with strings (see Fig. 69) made of yucca leaves (Fig. 31). Chippewa Shack Much farther north I have seen the Chippewa Indians build a framework in practically the same manner as the San Carlos Apache, but the Chippewas covered their frame with layers of birch bark held in place by ropes stretched over it as shown in Fig. 32. The door to their huts consisted of a blanket portière. In the same locality to-day it would be difficult if not impossible to procure such large strips of birch bark; but the dome-shaped frame is a good one to be used in many localities and, like all other frames, it can be covered with the material at hand. It may be shingled with smaller pieces of bark, covered with brush and thatched with browse or with hay, straw, palmetto leaves, palm leaves, or rushes, or it may be plastered over with mud and made an adobe hut. Pima Lodge The Pima Indians make a flat-roofed lodge with slanting walls (Fig. 33) which may be adapted for our use in almost any section of the country. It can be made warm and tight for the far North and cool and airy for the arid regions of the Southwest. The framework, as you may see by referring to the diagram, is similar to the wick-ups we men made when we were boys, and which are described in the "American Boy's Handy Book," consisting of four upright posts supporting in their crotches two crosspieces over which a flat roof is made by placing poles across. But the sides of this shack are not upright but made by resting leaning poles against the eaves. White Man's Walls The principal difference between a white man's architecture and the Indian's lies in the fact that the white man, with brick, stone, or frame house in his mind, is possessed of a desire to build perpendicular walls--walls which are hard to thatch and difficult to cover with turf, especially in the far North, where there is no true sod such as we understand in the middle country, where our grass grows thickly with interlacing roots. Boys will do well to remember this and imitate the Indian in making slanting walls for their shacks, shanties, and shelters in the woods. If they have boards or stone or brick or logs with which to build they may, with propriety, use a perpendicular wall. The Pima Indians, according to Pliny Earle Goddard, associate curator of anthropology of the American Museum of Natural History, thatch their houses with arrow brush and not infrequently bank the sides of the shack with dirt. Adobe Roof If you want to put a dirt roof on a shack of this description, cover the poles with small boughs or browse, green or dry leaves, straw, hay, grass, or rushes and put the sod over the top of this. If in place of making the roof flat, as shown in Fig. 33, you slant it so as to shed the rain, this sort of shack will do for almost any climate, but with a flat roof it is only fitted for the arid country or for a shelter from the sun when it is not expected to be used during the rain. Navajo The teepee-shaped hut used by the Navajo Indians _will_ shed the rain. To build this shack interlock three forked sticks as shown in the diagram, then lay other poles up against the forks of these sticks so that the butts of the poles will form a circle on the ground (Fig. 34). Thatch this with any material handy, after which you may cover it with dirt as the Navajos do, in which case you had better build a hallway for entrance, as shown in Fig. 35. This same teepee form is used by the California Indians and thatched with wild hay (Fig. 34½). VII BIRCH BARK OR TAR PAPER SHACK A DESCRIPTION of the Pontiac was first published in my "Field and Forest Handy Book," a book which contains several shelters similar to the ones here given, most of which were originally made for Caspar Whitney while he was editor of _Outing_. The Pontiac The Pontiac, as here given, is my own design and invention (Fig. 36). It is supposed to be shingled with birch bark, but, as is the case with all these camps, other bark may be substituted for the birch, and, if no bark is within reach and you are near enough to civilization, tar paper makes an excellent substitute. Fig. 37 shows the framework of a Pontiac with a ridge-pole, but the ridge-pole is not necessary and the shack may be built without it, as shown in Figs. 36 and 39, where the rafter poles rest upon the two side-plates over which they project to form the apex of the roof. In Fig. 39, although the side-plates are drawn, the rafter or roof poles are not because the diagram is supposed to be a sort of X-ray affair to show the internal construction. The opening for smoke need not be more than half as large as it is in Fig. 39 and it may be covered up in inclement weather with a piece of bark so as to keep out the rain. Cutting Bark Fig. 38 shows a tree felled in order to procure bark. You will note that the bark is cut round at the bottom and at the top and a slit is made connecting the two cuts as already described so that the bark may be peeled off by running a blunt instrument or a stick, whittled to the shape of a paper-cutter or dull chisel, under the edge of the bark and carefully peeling it back. If it is necessary to "tote" the bark any distance over the trail, Fig. 38 shows how to roll it up and how to bind the roll with cord or rope so that it may be slung on the back as the man is "toting" it in Fig. 36. Building the Pontiac To build a Pontiac, first erect the uprights _E_ and _E_, Fig. 37, then the other two similar uprights at the rear and lay the side-plates _G_ in the forks of the uprights; next erect the upright _H_ and one in the rear to correspond, and across this lay the ridge-pole. Next take a couple of logs and put them at the foot of the _E_ poles, or, if you want more room, further back toward where the roof poles _F_ will come. Place one of these logs on top of the other as shown in Figs. 36 and 39. Keep them in place by driving sticks on each side of them. Put two more logs upon the other side of the Pontiac and then lay your roof poles or rafters up against the side-plates and over the logs as shown in diagrams 36, 37, and 39. Fig. 36 shows the roof partially shingled and the sides partially covered, so that you may better understand how it is done. Shingling with Bark Commence at the bottom and lay the first row with the edges overlapping for walls; for the roof you may lay one row of shingles from the bottom up to the ridge and hold them in place by resting a pole on them; then lay the next row of shingles alongside by slipping the edges under the first. When you have the two sides covered, put bark over the ridge as shown in Fig. 36. This will make a beautiful and comfortable little camp. Fig. 36. Fig. 37. Fig. 38. Fig. 39. [Illustration: The Pontiac of birch bark.] To Keep Out Cold Built as here described, the cold wind might come through in the winter-time, but if you can gather a lot of Sphagnum moss from the nearest swamp and cover your roof with it and then shingle that over with another layer of birch bark, the cold wind will not come through your roof. If you treat your side walls in the same manner and heap dirt up around the edges of them, you will have a comfortable winter camp. In the winter-time you will find it very difficult to peel the birch bark or any other kind of bark, but when the sap is flowing it is not so difficult to secure bark slabs from many varieties of trees. VIII INDIAN COMMUNAL HOUSES WHEN the French Communists were raising Cain in Europe they doubtless thought their idea was practically new, but thousands of years before they bore the red banner through the streets of Paris the American Indians were living quiet and peaceful communal lives on this continent; when I use the words _quiet_ and _peaceful_, I, of course, mean as regards their own particular commune and not taking into account their attitude toward their neighbors. The Pueblo Indians built themselves adobe communal houses, the Nez Percés built themselves houses of sticks and dry grass one hundred and fifty feet long sometimes, containing forty-eight families, while the Nechecolles had houses two hundred and twenty-six feet in length! But this is not a book of history; all we want to know is how to build shacks for our own use; so we will borrow one from the communal home of the Iroquois. It is not necessary for us to make this one hundred feet long, as the Iroquois Indians did. We can make a diminutive one as a playhouse for our children, a moderate-sized one as a camp for our Boy Scouts, or a good-sized one for a party of full-grown campers. But first we must gather a number of long, flexible saplings and plant them in two rows with their butt ends in the ground, as shown in Fig. 40, after which we may bend their upper ends so that they will overlap each other and form equal-sized arches, when they are lashed together, with twine if we have it, or with wire if it is handy; but if we are real woodsmen, we will bind them with rope made of fibres of bark or the flexible roots which we find in the forests. Then we bind horizontal poles or rods to the arches, placing the poles about a foot or two apart according to the material with which we are to shingle it. We make a simple doorway with upright posts at one end and bind the horizontal posts on as we did at the sides. Next we shingle it with bark or with strips of tar paper and hold the shingles in place by binding poles upon the outside, as shown in Fig. 41. A hole or holes are left in the roof over the fireplaces for openings for the smoke to escape. In lieu of a chimney a wind-shield of bark is fastened at its lower edge by pieces of twine to the roof so as to shield the opening; this wind-shield should be movable so that it may be shifted according to the wind. The Iroquois is an easily constructed shelter, useful to man, and one which will delight the heart of the Boy Scouts or any other set of boys. The Pawnee Hogan The Pawnee hogan is usually covered with sod or dirt, but it may be covered with bark, with canvas, or thatched with straw or with browse, as the camper may choose. Fig. 42 shows the framework in the skeleton form. The rafter poles are placed wigwam fashion and should be very close together in the finished structure; so also should be the short sticks forming the side walls and the walls to the hallway or entrance. To build this hogan, first erect a circle of short forked sticks, setting their ends firmly in the ground. Inside of this erect four longer forked sticks, then place across these four horizontal side-plates, or maybe they might be more properly called "purlins," in which case the sticks laid on the forks of the circle of small uprights will properly correspond to the side-plates of a white man's dwelling. After the circle and square (Fig. 42) have been erected, make your doorway with two short-forked sticks and your hallway by sticks running from the door to side-plates. In thatching your roof or in covering it with any sort of material, leave an opening at the top (Fig. 43) to act as a chimney for your centre camp-fire. If the roof is to be covered with sod or adobe, cover it first with browse, hay, straw, or rushes, making a thick mattress over the entire structure. On top of this plaster your mud or sod (Fig. 43). If you intend to use this hogan as a more or less permanent camp you can put windows in the sides to admit light and air and use a hollow log or a barrel for a chimney as shown in Fig. 44. Fig. 40. Fig. 41. Fig. 42. Fig. 43. Fig. 44. Fig. 45. [Illustration: The Iroquois, the Pawnee hogan, the white man's hogan, and the kolshian.] The Kolshian The camps thus far described are supposed to be "tomahawk camps," that is, camps which may be built without the use of a lumberman's axe. The kolshian (Fig. 45) of Alaska, when built by the natives, is a large communal council-house, but I have placed it here among the "tomahawk camps" on the supposition that some one might want to build one in miniature as a novelty on their place or as a council-room for their young scouts. The Alaskans hew all the timber out by hand, but, of course, the reader may use sawed or milled lumber. The proper entrance to a kolshian or rancheree, as Elliot calls it, is through a doorway made in the huge totem-pole at the front of the building. The roof is covered with splits or shakes held in place by poles laid across them, the sides are made of hewn planks set upright, and the front has two heavy planks at the eaves which run down through holes in two upright planks at the corners (Fig. 45). These with the sill plank bind the upright wall planks in place. The kolshian is undoubtedly a very ancient form of building and may be related to the houses built by the ancient cavemen of Europe. The first human house-builders are said to belong to the Cro-Magnon race who lived in caves in the winter-time, and on the walls of one of the caverns (Dordogne cavern) some Cro-Magnon budding architect made a rough sketch of one of their houses (middle sketch, Fig. 45). When you compare the house with the kolshian the resemblance is very striking, and more so when we remember that the kolshian floor is underground, indicating that it is related to or suggested by a natural cavern. IX BARK AND TAR PAPER TO further illustrate the use of bark and tar paper, I have made the sketches shown by Figs. 46, 47, and 48. Fig. 47 is a log shack with an arched roof drawn from a photograph in my collection. To keep the interior warm not only the roof but the sides of the house as well have been shingled with bark, leaving only the ends of the logs protruding to tell of what material the house is really constructed. Fig. 47 shows a fisherman's hut made with a few sticks and bark. Fig. 48 shows a tar paper camp, that is, a camp where everything is covered with tar paper in place of bark. The house is made with a skeleton of poles on which the tar paper is tacked, the kitchen is an open shed with tar paper roof, and even the table is made by covering the cross sticks shown in the diagram with sheets of tar paper in place of the birch bark usually used for that purpose. Personally I do not like tar paper; it seems to rob the camp of a true flavor of the woods; it knocks the sentiment out of it, and, except to sailors, the odor of the tar is not nearly as delightful as that of the fragrant balsam boughs. Nevertheless, tar paper is now used in all the lumber camps and is spreading farther and farther into the woods as the birch bark becomes scarce and the "tote-roads" are improved. When one can enter the woods with an automobile, you must expect to find tar paper camps, because the paper is easily transported, easily handled, and easily applied for the purpose of the camper. Fig. 46. Fig. 47. Fig. 48. [Illustration: Showing use of bark and tar paper.] Practically any form of tent may be reproduced by tacking tar paper to sticks arranged in the proper manner, but if you make a wigwam of tar paper, do paint it red, green, or yellow, or whitewash it; do anything which will take off the civilized, funereal look of the affair. X A SAWED-LUMBER SHANTY BEFORE we proceed any further it may be best to give the plan of a workshop, a camp, an outhouse, or a shed to be made of sawed lumber, the framework of which is made of what is known as two-by-fours, that is, pieces of lumber two inches thick by four inches wide. The plans used here are from my book "The Jack of All Trades," but the dimensions may be altered to suit your convenience. The sills, which are four inches by four inches, are also supposed to be made by nailing two two-by-fours together. First stake out your foundation and see that the corners are square, that is, at right angles, and test this with a tape or ruler by measuring six feet one way and eight feet the other from a corner along the proposed sides of the house marking these points. If a ten-foot rod will reach exactly across from point to point, the corner is square and you may dig your post-holes. The Foundation You may use a foundation of stones or a series of stone piles, but if you use stones and expect your house to remain plumb where the winters are severe you must dig holes for them at least three feet deep in order to go below the frost-line. Fill these holes with broken stone, on top of which you can make your pile of stones to act as support for the sills; but the simplest method is to use posts of locust, cedar, or chestnut; or, if this is too much trouble, pack the dirt tightly, drain it well by making it slope away from the house in every direction, and lay your foundation sills on the level earth. In that case you had better use chestnut wood for the sills; spruce will rot very quickly in contact with the damp earth and pine will not last long under the same circumstances. All through certain sections of this country there are hundreds of humble dwellings built upon "mudsills," in other words, with no foundation or floor but the bare ground. We will suppose that you have secured some posts about two feet six inches long with good, flat ends. The better material you can obtain the trimmer and better will be the appearance of your house, but a house which will protect you and your tools may be made of the roughest lumber. The plans here drawn will answer for the rough or fine material, but we suppose that medium material is to be used. It will be taken for granted that the reader is able to procure enough two-by-four-inch timber to supply studs, ribs, purlins, rafters, beams, and posts for the frame shown in Fig. 49. Two pieces of four-by-four-inch timber each fifteen feet long should be made for sills by nailing two-by-fours together. Add to this some tongue-and-grooved boarding or even rough boards for sides and roof, some enthusiasm, and good American pluck and the shop is almost as good as built. First lay the foundation, eight by fifteen feet, and then you may proceed to dig your post-holes. The outside of the posts should be flush or even with the outside edges of the sills and end beams of the house as shown in the diagram. If there are four posts on each of the long sides they should be equal distances apart. Dig the holes three feet deep, allowing six inches of the posts to protrude above ground. If you drive two stakes a short distance beyond the foundation in line with your foundation lines and run a string from the top of one stake to the top of the other you can, without much trouble, get it upon a perfect level by testing it and adjusting until the string represents the level for your sill. When this is done, set your posts to correspond to the level of the string, then place your sill on top of the posts and test that with your level. If found to be correct, fill in the dirt around the posts and pack it firmly, then spike your sill to the posts and go through the same operation with opposite sets of posts and sill. Fig. 49. [Illustration: Frame of two-by-fours milled lumber, with names of parts.] The first difficult work is now done and, with the exception of the roof, the rest only needs ordinary care. It is supposed that you have already sawed off and prepared about nine two-by-four-inch beams each of which is exactly eight feet long. Set these on edge from sill to sill, equal distances apart, the edges of the end beams being exactly even with the ends of the sills as in Fig. 49. See that the beams all cross the sills at right angles and toe-nail them in place. You may now neatly floor the foundation with one-inch boards; these boards must be laid lengthwise with the building and crosswise with the beams. When this is finished you will have a beautiful platform on which to work, where you will be in no danger of losing your tools, and you may use the floor as a table on which to measure and plan the sides and roof. Ridge Plank and Rafters It is a good idea to make your ridge plank and rafters while the floor is clear of rubbish. Lay out and mark on the floor, with a carpenter's soft pencil, a straight line four feet long (_A_, _B_, Fig. 49). At right angles to this draw another line three feet six inches long (_A_, _D_, Fig. 49). Connect these points (_B_, _D_, Fig. 49) with a straight line, then complete the figure _A_, _B_, _C_, _D_ (Fig. 49). Allow two inches at the top for the ridge plank at _B_ and two by four for the end of the side-plate at _D_. You then have a pattern for each rafter with a "plumb edge" at _B_ and a "bird's mouth" at _D_. The plumb edge must be parallel with _B_, _C_ and the two jaws of the "bird's mouth" parallel with _D_, _C_ and _A_, _D_, respectively. Make six rafters of two-by-fours and one ridge plank. The purlins and collar can be made and fitted after the roof is raised. Set your roof timber carefully to one side and clear the floor for the studs, ribs, and plates. First prepare the end posts and make them of two-by-fours. Each post is of two pieces. There will be four outside pieces each five feet eight inches in length, which rest on the end beams, and four inside pieces each six feet in length; this allows two inches at the top for the ends of the end plates to rest upon. Examine the corner posts and you will see that the outside two-by-four rests upon the top side of the end beam and the side-plate rests directly upon said two-by-four. You will also observe that the inside two-by-four rests directly upon the sill, which would make the former four inches longer than the outside piece if it is extended to the side-plate; but you will also notice that there is a notch in the end plate for the outside corner piece to fit in and that the end of the end plate fits on top the inside piece of the corner posts, taking off two inches, which makes the inside piece just six feet long. This is a very simple arrangement, as may be seen by examining the diagram. Besides the corner posts, each of which we have seen is made of two pieces of two-by-fours, there are four studs for the front side, each six feet two inches long. The short studs shown in the diagram on the rear side are unnecessary and are only shown so that they may be put in as convenient attachments for shelves and tool racks. The first stud on the front is placed two feet from the corner post and the second one about six feet six inches from the first, to allow a space for a six-foot window; the next two studs form the door-jambs and must be far enough from the corner to allow the door to open and swing out of the way. If you make your door two and one half feet wide--a good size--you may set your last stud two feet from the corner post and leave a space of two feet six inches for the doorway. Now mark off on the floor the places where the studs will come, and cut out the flooring at these points to allow the ends of the studs to enter and rest on the sill. Next make four ribs--one long one to go beneath the window, one short one to fit between the corner post and the door stud not shown in diagram, another to fit between the door stud and window stud, and another to fit between the window stud and the first corner post (the nearest corner in the diagram). Next make your side-plate exactly fifteen feet long. Fit the frame together on the floor and nail the pieces together, toe-nailing the ribs in place. Get some help and raise the whole side frame and slip the ends of the studs into their respective slots. Make the end posts plumb and hold them in place temporarily by a board, one end of which is nailed to the top end of the post and the other to the end beam. Such a diagonal board at each end will hold the side in place until the opposite side is raised and similarly supported. It is now a simple thing to slip the end plates in place under the side-plates until their outside edges are even with the outside of the corner posts. A long wire nail driven through the top-plates and end plates down into the posts at each corner will hold them securely. Toe-nail a rib between the two nearest end posts and make two window studs and three ribs for the opposite end. The framing now only needs the roof timbers to complete the skeleton of your shop. Across from side-plate to side-plate lay some loose boards for a platform, and standing on these boards let your assistant lift one end of the ridge plank while with one nail to each rafter you fasten the two end rafters onto the ridge plank, fit the jaws of the "bird's mouth" over the ends of the side-plates, and hold them temporarily in place with a "stay lath"--that is, a piece of board temporarily nailed to rafter and end plate. The other end of the ridge is now resting on the platform at the other end of the house and this may be lifted up, for the single nails will allow movement. The rafters are nailed in place with one nail each and a stay lath fastened on to hold them in place. Test the ends with your plumb-level and when they are found to be correct nail all the rafters securely in place and stiffen the centre pair with a piece called a "collar." Add four purlins set at right angles to the rafters and take off your hat and give three cheers and do not forget to nail a green bough to your roof tree in accordance with the ancient and time-honored custom. The sides of the house may be covered with tent-cloth, oilcloth, tin, tar paper, or the cheapest sort of lumber, and the house may be roofed with the same material; but if you can secure good lumber, use thirteen by seven eighths by nine and one quarter inch, tongue-and-grooved, one side planed so that it may be painted; you can make two sideboards out of each piece six feet six inches in length. Nail the sides on, running the boards vertically, leaving openings for windows and doors at the proper places. If you have made a triangular edge to your ridge board, it will add to the finish and the roof may be neatly and tightly laid with the upper edge of one side protruding a couple of inches over the opposite side and thus protecting the joint from rain. Additional security is gained by nailing what are called picket strips (seven eighths by one and three quarter inches) over each place where the planks join, or the roof may be covered with sheathing boards and shingles. It is not necessary here to give the many details such as the manufacture of the door and the arrangements of the windows, as these small problems can be easily solved by examining doors and windows of similar structures. XI A SOD HOUSE FOR THE LAWN THE difference between this sod house and the ones used in the arid regions consists in the fact that the sod will be growing on the sod house, which is intended for and is an ornamental building for the lawn. Possibly one might say that the sod house is an effete product of civilization where utility is sacrificed to display; but it is pretty, and beauty is always worth while; besides which the same plans may be used in building A Real Adobe and practically are used in some of the desert ranches along the Colorado River. The principal difference in construction between the one shown in Figs. 50, 53, and 57 and the one in Fig. 55 is that in the sod house the sod is held in place by chicken-coop wire, while in the ranch-house (Fig. 55) the dirt or adobe is held in place by a number of sticks. Fig. 50. Fig. 51. Fig. 52. Fig. 53. Fig. 54. Fig. 55. Fig. 56. [Illustration: A house of green growing sod and the Colorado River adobe.] Fig. 50 shows how the double walls are made with a space of at least a foot between them; these walls are covered with wire netting or chicken-coop wire, as shown in Fig. 53, and the space between the walls filled in with mud or dirt of any kind. The framework may be made of milled lumber, as in Fig. 50, or it may be made of saplings cut on the river bank and squared at their ends, as shown by detailed drawings between Figs. 50 and 52. The roof may be made flat, like Figs. 54 and 56, and covered with poles, as in Fig. 54, in which case the sod will have to be held in place by pegging other poles along the eaves as shown in the left-hand corner of Fig. 54. This will keep the sod from sliding off the roof. Or you may build a roof after the manner illustrated by Fig. 49 and Fig. 51, that is, if you want to make a neat, workmanlike house; but any of the ways shown by Fig. 52 will answer for the framework of the roof. The steep roof, however, must necessarily be either shingled or thatched or the sod held in place by a covering of wire netting. If you are building this for your lawn, set green, growing sod up edgewise against the wire netting, after the latter has been tacked to your frame, so arranging the sod that the green grass will face the outside. If you wish to plaster the inside of your house with cement or concrete, fill in behind with mud, plaster the mud against the sod and put gravel and stones against the mud so that it will be next to the wire netting on the inside of the house over which you plaster the concrete. If you make the roof shown in Fig. 54, cover it first with hay and then dirt and sod and hold the sod down with wire netting neatly tacked over it, or cover it with gravel held in place by wire netting and spread concrete over the top as one does on a cellar floor. If the walls are kept sprinkled by the help of the garden hose, the grass will keep as green as that on your lawn, and if you have a dirt roof you may allow purple asters and goldenrod to grow upon it (Fig. 62) or plant it with garden flowers. Thatch If you are going to make a thatched roof, soak your thatch in water and straighten the bent straws; build the roof steep like the one shown in Fig. 57 and make a wooden needle a foot long and pointed at both ends as shown in Fig. 59; tie your thatching twine to the middle of the needle, then take your rye or wheat straw, hay, or bulrushes, gather it into bundles four inches thick and one foot wide, like those shown in Fig. 60, and lay them along next to the eaves of your house as in Fig. 58. Sew them in place by running the needle up through the wire netting to the man on the outside who in turn pushes it back to the man on the inside. Make a knot at each wisp of the thatch until one layer is finished, let the lower ends overhang the eaves, then proceed as illustrated by Fig. 66 and described under the heading of the bog ken. If in place of a simple ornament you want to make a real house of it and a pretty one at that, fill up the space between the walls with mud and plaster it on the outside with cement or concrete and you will have a cheap concrete house. The wire netting will hold the plaster or the concrete and consequently it is not necessary to make the covering of cement as thick as in ordinary buildings, for after the mud is dried upon the inside it will, with its crust of cement or plaster, be practically as good as a solid concrete wall. Fig. 57. Fig. 58. Fig. 59. Fig. 60. Fig. 61. Fig. 62. [Illustration: Ornamental sod house for the lawn.] XII HOW TO BUILD ELEVATED SHACKS, SHANTIES, AND SHELTERS FOR many reasons it is sometimes necessary or advisable to have one's camp on stilts, so to speak. Especially is this true in the more tropical countries where noxious serpents and insects abound. A simple form of stilted shack is shown by Fig. 63. To build this shack we must first erect an elevated platform (Fig. 64). This is made by setting four forked sticks of equal height in the ground and any height from the ground to suit the ideas of the camp builder. If, for some reason, the uprights are "wabbly" the frame may be stiffened by lashing diagonal cross sticks to the frame. After you have erected the four uprights, lay two poles through the crotches, as in Fig. 64, and make a platform by placing other poles across these, after which a shelter may be made in the form of an open Adirondack camp or any of the forms previously described. Fig. 65 shows the framework for the open camp of Adirondack style with the uprights lashed to the side bars; if you have nails, of course, you can nail these together, but these plans are made on the assumption that you have no nails for that purpose, which will probably be true if you have been long in the woods. Fig. 63. Fig. 64. Fig. 65. [Illustration: A simple stilt camp.] XIII THE BOG KEN KEN is a name now almost obsolete but the bog ken is a house built on stilts where the ground is marshy, damp, and unfit to sleep upon. As you will see by the diagram (Fig. 66), the house is built upon a platform similar to the one last described; in this instance, however, the shelter itself is formed by a series of arches similar to the Iroquois (Fig. 41). The uprights on the two sides have their ends bent over and lashed together, forming arches for the roof. Over the arches are lashed horizontal poles the same as those described in the construction of the Iroquois lodge. Fig. 67 shows one way to prevent "varmints" of any kind from scaling the supporting poles and creeping into your camp. The protection consists of a tin pan with a hole in the bottom slid over the supporting poles. Fig. 66 shows how to lash the thatching on to the poles and Fig. 68 shows how to spring the sticks in place for a railing around your front porch or balcony. The floor to this bog ken is a little more elaborate than that of the last described camp because the poles have all been halved before laying them for the floor. These are supposed to be afterwards covered with browse, hay, or rushes and the roof shingled with bark or thatched. Thatching Soak your straw or hay well in water and smooth it out flat and regular. The steeper the roofs the longer the thatch will last. In this bog ken our roof happens to be a rounded one, an arched roof; but it is sheltering a temporary house and the thatch will last as long as the shack. While the real pioneer uses whatever material he finds at hand, it does no harm for him to know that to make a really good thatch one should use only straw which is fully ripe and has been thrashed clean with an old-fashioned flail. The straw must be clear of all seed or grain and kept straight, not mussed up, crumpled, and broken. If any grain is left in the straw it will attract field-mice, birds, domestic mice and rats, domestic turkeys and chickens, and these creatures in burrowing and scratching for food will play havoc with the roof. Fig. 66. Fig. 67. Fig. 68. Fig. 69. [Illustration: Details of bog ken.] It is not necessary to have straight and even rafters, because the humps, bumps, and hollows caused by crooked sticks are concealed by the mattress of straw. Take a bundle of thatch in your hands, squeeze it together, and place it so that the butt ends project about three inches beyond the floor (_A_, Fig. 66); tie the thatch closely to the lower rafter and the one next above it, using for the purpose twine, marlin, raffia, or well-twisted white hickory bark. This first row should be thus tied near both ends to prevent the wind from getting under it and lifting it up. Next put on another row of wisps of thatch over the first and the butt ends come even with the first, but tie this one to the third row of rafters not shown in diagram. The butts of the third row of thatch (_B_, Fig. 66) should be about nine inches up on the front rows; put this on as before and proceed the same way with _C_, _D_, _E_, and _F_, Fig. 66, until the roof is completed. The thatch should be ten or twelve inches thick for a permanent hut but need not be so for a temporary shed. As there is no comb to this roof the top must be protected where the thatches from each side join, and to do this fasten a thatch over the top and bind it on both sides but not in the middle, so that it covers the meeting of the thatches on both sides of the shack; this top piece should be stitched or bound on with wire if you have it, or fastened with willow withe or even wisps of straw if you are an expert. A house, twenty by thirty feet, made of material found on the place and thatched with straw costs the builder only fifty cents for nails and four days' work for two persons. A good thatched roof will last as long as a modern shingle roof, for in olden days when shingles were good and split out of blocks, not sawed, and were well seasoned before using, they were not expected to last much over fifteen years; a well-made thatched roof will last fifteen or twenty years. Fig. 70. [Illustration: Snow-shoe foundation for bog ken.] But a real bog ken is one that is built over boggy or marshy places too soft to support an ordinary structure. To overcome this difficulty required considerable study and experiment, but at length the author hit upon a simple plan which has proved effective. If you wish to build a duck hunter's camp on the soft meadows, or for any other reason you desire a camp on treacherous, boggy ground, you may build one by first making a thick mattress of twigs and sticks as shown by Fig. 70. This mattress acts on the principle of a snow-shoe and prevents your house from sinking by distributing the weight equally over a wide surface. The mattress should be carefully made of sticks having their branches trimmed off sufficiently to allow them to lie in regular courses as in the diagram. The first course should be laid one way and the next course at right angles to the first, and so on, until the mattress is sufficiently thick for the purpose. Standing on the mattress, it will be an easy matter with your hands to force the sharpened ends of your upright posts _A_, _B_, _C_, and _D_ down into the yielding mud, but be careful not to push them too far because in some of these marshes the mud is practically bottomless. It is only necessary for the supports to sink in the mud far enough to make them stand upright. Fig. 71. [Illustration: Framework of simple bog ken.] The next step is to lay, at right angles to the top layer of brush, a series of rods or poles between your uprights as shown in Fig. 70; then take two more poles, place them at right angles to the last ones, and press them down until they fit snugly on top of the other poles, and there nail them fast to the uprights as shown in Fig. 70, after which to further bind them you may nail a diagonal from _A_ to _D_ and _B_ to _C_, but this may not be necessary. When you have proceeded thus far you may erect a framework like that shown in Fig. 71, and build a platform by flooring the crosspieces or horizontal bars with halves of small logs, Fig. 71. It is now a simple matter to erect a shack which may be roofed with bark as in Fig. 72 or thatched as in Fig. 74. Fig. 72 shows the unfinished shack in order that its construction may be easily seen; this one is being roofed with birch bark. A fireplace may be made by enclosing a bed of mud (Fig. 73) between or inside of the square formed by four logs. On this clay or mud you can build your camp-fire or cooking fire or mosquito smudge with little or no danger of setting fire to your house. The mosquito smudge will not be found necessary if there is any breeze blowing at all, because these insects cling to the salt hay or bog-grass and do not rise above it except in close, muggy weather where no breeze disturbs them. I have slept a few feet over bog meadows without being disturbed by mosquitoes when every blade of grass on the meadows was black with these insects, but there was a breeze blowing which kept the mosquitoes at home. Fig. 72. Fig. 73. Fig. 74. [Illustration: Adaptation of a bark shack to the bog ken foundation.] XIV OVER-WATER CAMPS NOW that we know how to camp on solid ground and on the quaking bog we cannot finish up the subject of stilt camps without including one over-water camp. If the water has a muddy bottom it is a simple matter to force your supporting posts into the mud; this may be done by driving them in with a wooden mallet made of a section of log or it may be done by fastening poles on each side of the post and having a crowd of men jump up and down on the poles until the posts are forced into the bottom. If you are building a pretentious structure the piles may be driven with the ordinary pile-driver. But if your camp on the water is over a hard bottom of rock or sand through which you cannot force your supports you may take a lot of old barrels (Fig. 75), knock the tops and bottoms out of them, nail some cross planks on the ends of your spiles, slide the barrels over the spiles, then set them in place in the water and hold them there by filling the barrels with rocks, stones, or coarse gravel. Fig. 77 shows a foundation made in this manner; this method is also useful in building piers (Fig. 78). But if you are in the woods, out of reach of barrels or other civilized lumber, you can make yourself cribs by driving a square or a circle of sticks in the ground a short distance and then twining roots or pliable branches inside and outside the stakes, basket fashion, as shown in Fig. 76. When the crib is complete it may be carefully removed from the ground and used as the barrels were used by filling them with stones to support the uprights. Fig. 79 shows an ordinary portable house such as are advertised in all the sportsmen's papers, which has been erected upon a platform over the water. Fig. 75. Fig. 76. Fig. 77. Fig. 78. Fig. 79. [Illustration: Showing how to make foundations for over-water camps.] My experience with this sort of work leads me to advise the use of piles upon which to build in place of piers of stones. Where I have used such piers upon small inland lakes the tremendous push of the freezing ice has upset them, whereas the ice seems to slide around the piles without pushing them over. The real danger with piles lies in the fact that if the water rises after the ice has frozen around the uprights the water will lift the ice up and the ice will sometimes pull the piles out of the bottom like a dentist pulls teeth. Nevertheless, piles are much better for a foundation for a camp or pier than any crib of rocks, and that is the reason I have shown the cribs in Figs. 75 and 77, made so as to rest upon the bottom supposedly below the level of the winter ice. XV SIGNAL-TOWER, GAME LOOKOUT, AND RUSTIC OBSERVATORY IF my present reader happens to be a Boy Scout or a scout-master who wants the scouts to build a tower for exhibition purposes, he can do so by following the directions here given, but if there is real necessity for haste in the erection of this tower, of course we cannot build one as tall as we might where we have more time. With a small tower all the joints may be quickly lashed together with strong, heavy twine, rope, or even wire; and in the wilderness it will probably be necessary to bind the joints with pliable roots, or cordage made of bark or withes; but as this is not a book on woodcraft we will suppose that the reader has secured the proper material for fastening the joints of the frame of this signal-tower and he must now shoulder his axe and go to the woods in order to secure the necessary timber. First let him cut eight straight poles--that is, as straight as he can find them. These poles should be about four and one half inches in diameter at their base and sixteen and one half feet long. After all the branches are trimmed off the poles, cut four more sticks each nine feet long and two and a half or three inches in diameter at the base; when these are trimmed into shape one will need twenty six or seven more stout sticks each four and one half feet long for braces and for flooring for the platform. Kite Frame It being supposed that your timber is now all in readiness at the spot where you are to erect the tower, begin by laying out on the ground what we call the "kite frame." First take three of the four-and-one-half-foot sticks, _A_, _B_, _C_ (Fig. 82), and two of the nine-foot sticks _D_ and _E_ (Fig. 82), and, placing them on a level stretch of ground, arrange them in the form of a parallelogram. Put _A_ for the top rail at the top of the parallelogram and _C_ for the bottom of the parallelogram and let them rest upon the sides _D_ and _E_, but put _B_ under the sides _D_ and _E_. In order to bind these together securely, the ends of all the sticks must be allowed to project a few inches. _B_ should be far enough below _A_ to give the proper height for a railing around the platform. The platform itself rests upon _B_. _A_ forms the top railing to the fence around it. Now take two of your sixteen-and-one-half-foot poles and place them diagonally from corner to corner of the parallelogram with the small ends of the poles lying over the ends of _A_ and the butt ends of the poles extending beyond _C_, as in Fig. 82. Lash these poles securely in place. Where the poles cross each other in the _X_, or centre, it is best to flatten them some by scoring and hewing with a hatchet, but care must be taken not to weaken them by scoring too deep. Next take your lash rope, double it, run the loop down under the cross sticks, bring it up on the other side, as in Fig. 83, then pull the two loose ends through the loop. When they are drawn taut (Fig. 84), bend them round in opposite directions--that is, bend the right-hand end of the rope to the right, down and under the cross sticks, pull it out to the left, as in Fig. 84, then bend the left-hand piece of rope to the left, down and under, pulling it out to the right, as in Fig. 84. Next bring those two pieces up over and tie them together in a square knot, as shown in Figs. 85 and 86. Fig. 80. Fig. 81. Fig. 82. Fig. 83. Fig. 84. Fig. 85. Fig. 86. Fig. 87. [Illustration: Parts of tower for a wireless, a game lookout, an elevated camp or cache.] Make a duplicate "kite" frame for the other side exactly as you made the first one, and then arrange these two pieces on the ground with the cross sticks _F_ and _F_ on the under-side and with their butt ends opposite the butts of the similar poles on the other frame and about five feet apart. Fasten a long line to the point where the two _F_ pieces cross each other and detail a couple of scouts to hold each of the butt ends from slipping by placing one of their feet against the butt, as in Fig. 82, while two gangs of men or boys pull on the ropes and raise the kite frames to the positions shown in Figs. 81 and 88. Be careful, when raising the frames, not to pull them too far so that they may fall on some unwary workman. When the frames are once erected it is an easy matter to hold them in place by guy-ropes fastened to stones, stakes, or trees or held by men or boys, while some of the shorter braces are fastened to hold the two kite frames together, as in Fig. 90, wherein you may see these short braces at the top and bottom. Next, the two other long sticks, legs, or braces (_G_, _G_, Figs. 89 and 90) should be held temporarily in position and the place marked where they cross each other in the centre of the parallelogram which should be the same as it is on the legs of the two kite frames. The _G_ sticks should now be lashed together at the crossing point, as already described and shown by Figs. 83, 84, 85, and 86, when they may be put up against the sides, as in Fig. 89, in which diagram the _G_ poles are made very dark and the kite frames indicated very lightly so as to better show their relative positions. Lash the _G_ poles at the top and at the other points where they cross the other braces and secure the framework by adding short braces, as indicated in Fig. 90. Fig. 88. Fig. 89. Fig. 90. Fig. 90A. [Illustration: Details of scout signal-tower or game lookout.] If all the parts are bound together with wire it will hold them more securely than nails, with no danger of the poles splitting. A permanent tower of this kind may be erected on which a camp may be built, as shown in Fig. 87. It may be well to note that in the last diagram the tower is only indicated by a few lines of the frame in order to simplify it and prevent confusion caused by the multiplicity of poles. Boy-Scout Tower If you desire to make a tower taller than the one described it would be best, perhaps, to take the regular Boy-Scout dimensions as given by Scout-master A. G. Clarke: "Eight pieces 22 feet long, about 5 or 6 inches thick at the base; 4 pieces 6 feet long, about 3 or 4 inches thick at the base; 12 pieces 6 feet long, about 2½ or 3 inches thick at base; 12 or 15 pieces for braces and platform about 6 feet long." When putting together this frame it may be nailed or spiked, but care must be used not to split the timber where it is nailed. With most wood this may be avoided by driving the spikes or nails several inches back of the ends of the sticks. To erect a flagpole or a wireless pole, cut the bottom of the pole wedge-shaped, fit in the space between the cross poles, as in Fig. 90 _A_, then lash it fast to the _B_ and _A_ pole, and, to further secure it, two other sticks may be nailed to the _F_ poles, one on each side, between which the bottom of the flagpole is thrust, as shown by Fig. 90 _A_. The flooring of the platform must be securely nailed or lashed in place, otherwise there may be some serious accident caused by the boys or men falling through, a fall of about twenty and one half feet according to the last measurements given for the frame. An observatory of this kind will add greatly to the interest of a mountain home or seaside home; it is a practical tower for military men to be used in flag signalling and for improvised wireless; it is also a practical tower for a lookout in the game fields and a delight to the Boy Scouts. XVI TREE-TOP HOUSES BY the natural process of evolution we have now arrived at the tree-top house. It is interesting to the writer to see the popularity of this style of an outdoor building, for, while he cannot lay claim to originating it, he was the first to publish the working drawings of a tree-house. These plans first appeared in _Harper's Round Table_; afterward he made others for the _Ladies' Home Journal_ and later published them in "The Jack of All Trades." Having occasion to travel across the continent shortly after the first plans were published, he was amused to see all along the route, here and there in back-yard fruit-trees, shade-trees, and in forest-trees, queer little shanties built by the boys, high up among the boughs. In order to build a house one must make one's plans _to fit the tree_. If it is to be a one-tree house, spike on the trunk two quartered pieces of small log one on each side of the trunk (Figs. 91 and 92). Across these lay a couple of poles and nail them to the trunk of the tree (Fig. 91); then at right angles to these lay another pair of poles, as shown in the right-hand diagram (Fig. 91). Nail these securely in place and support the ends of the four poles by braces nailed to the trunk of the tree below. The four cross-sills will then (Fig. 95) serve as a foundation upon which to begin your work. Other joists can now be laid across these first and supported by braces running diagonally down to the trunk of the tree, as shown in Fig. 95. After the floor is laid over the joist any form of shack, from a rude, open shed to a picturesque thatch-roofed cottage, may be erected upon it. It is well to support the two middle rafters of your roof by quartered pieces of logs, as the middle rafters are supported in Fig. 95; by quartered logs shown in Fig. 92. Fig. 91. Fig. 92. Fig. 93. Fig. 94. Fig. 95. Fig. 96. Fig. 97. [Illustration: Details of tree-top houses.] If the house is a two-tree house, run your cross-sill sticks from trunk to trunk, as in Fig. 94; then make two T-braces, like the one in Fig. 94 _A_, of two-inch planks with braces secured by iron straps, or use heavier timber, and bolt the parts together securely (Fig. 93), or use logs and poles (Fig. 94), after which hang these T's over the ends of your two cross sticks, as in Fig. 94, and spike the uprights of the T's securely to the tree trunks. On top of the T you can rest a two-by-four and support the end by diagonals nailed to the tree trunk (Fig. 94) after the manner of the diagonals in Fig. 95. You will note in Fig. 95 that cleats or blocks are spiked to the tree below the end of the diagonals in order to further secure them. It is sometimes necessary in a two-tree house to allow for the movement of the tree trunks. In Florida a gentleman did this by building his tree-house on the _B_ sills (Fig. 94) and making them movable to allow for the play of the tree trunks. Fig. 96 shows a two-tree house and Fig. 97 shows a thatch-roofed cottage built among the top branches of a single tree. It goes without saying that in a high wind one does not want to stay long in a tree-top house; in fact, during some winds that I have experienced I would have felt much safer had I been in a cyclone cellar; but if the braces of a tree-house are securely made and the trees selected have good, heavy trunks, your tree-top house will stand all the ordinary summer blows and winter storms. One must remember that even one's own home is not secure enough to stand some of those extraordinary gales, tornadoes, and hurricanes which occasionally visit parts of our country. Since I published the first plans of a tree-top house many people have adopted the idea and built quite expensive structures in the boughs of the trees. Probably all these buildings are intact at the present writing. The boys at Lynn, Mass., built a very substantial house in the trees, and the truant officer claimed that the lads hid away there so that they could play "hookey" from school; but if this is true, and there seems to be some doubt about it, it must be remembered that the fault was probably with _the schools_ and not the boys, for boys who have ingenuity and grit enough to build a substantial house in a tree cannot be bad boys; industry, skill, and laborious work are not the attributes of the bad boy. Some New York City boys built a house in the trees at One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Street, but here the police interfered, claiming that it was against a city ordinance to build houses in shade-trees, and maybe it is; but, fortunately for the boys, there are other trees which may be used for this purpose. There is now, or was recently, an interesting tree-house on Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn; a house so commodious that it was capable of accommodating as many as fifteen people; but it was not as pretty and attractive a tree-house as the one located at the foot of Mount Tamalpais, in Mill Valley, San Francisco, which is built after the plan shown by Fig. 95. This California house is attached to the trunk of a big redwood tree and is reached by a picturesque bridge spanning a rocky canyon. Tree-houses are also used as health resorts, and recently there was a gentleman of Plainfield, Mass., living in a tree-house because he found the pure air among the leaves beneficial; while down in Ecuador another man, who feared malarial mosquitoes and objected to wild beasts and snakes, built himself a house on top of an ibo-tree, seventy feet from the ground. This is quite a pretentious structure and completely hides and covers the top of the tree. It is located on the banks of the Escondido River; and in this tropical country, while it may be a safe retreat from the pests enumerated, it might not be so safe from lightning in one of those violent tropical storms. But it is probably as safe as any house in that country, for one must take chances no matter what kind of a house one dwells in. Primitive and savage men all over the world for thousands of years have built dwellings in tree tops. In the Philippines many natives live in tree-top houses. The Kinnikars, hill-tribesmen of Travancore, India, are said to live in houses built in the trees, but in New Guinea it seems that such houses are only provided for the girls, and every night the dusky lassies are sent to bed in shacks perched in the tree tops; then, to make safety doubly safe, the watchful parents take away the ladders and their daughters cannot reach the ground until the ladders are replaced in the morning. The most important thing about all this is that a tree-house is always a source of delight to the boys and young people, and, furthermore, the boys have over and over again proved to the satisfaction of the author that they themselves are perfectly competent to build these shacks, and not only to build them but to avoid accidents and serious falls while engaged in the work. XVII CACHES THE difference between tomahawk shacks and axe houses reminds me of the difference between the ileum and the jejunum, of which my classmate once said: "There is no way of telling the beginning of one or the ending of t'other 'cept by the pale-pinkish hue of the latter." It must be confessed that some of the shacks described in the preceding pages are rather stout and massive to be classed as tomahawk shelters, but, as indicated by my reference to physiology, this is not the writer's fault. The trouble is owing to the fact that nature abhors the arbitrary division line which man loves to make for his own convenience. The tomahawk shacks gradually evolve into axe camps and houses and "there is no telling the beginning of one and the end of t'other." Hence, when I say that all the previous shacks, sheds, shelters, and shanties are fashioned with a hatchet, the statement must be accepted as true only so far as _it is_ possible to build them without an axe; but in looking over the diagram it is evident at a glance that the logs are growing so thick that the necessity of the woodman's axe is more and more apparent; nevertheless, the accompanying caches have been classed with the tomahawk group and we will allow them to remain there. Wherever man travels in the wilderness he finds it necessary to cache--that is, hide or secure some of his goods or provisions. The security of these caches (Figs. 98-111) is considered sacred in the wilds and they are not disturbed by savages or whites; but bears, foxes, husky dogs, porcupines, and wolverenes are devoid of any conscientious scruples and unless the cache is absolutely secure they will raid it. Fig. 98. Fig. 99. Fig. 100. Fig. 101. Fig. 102. Fig. 103. Fig. 104. Fig. 105. [Illustration: Simple forms of caches.] The first cache (Fig. 98) is called the "prospector's cache" and consists simply of a stick lashed to two trees and another long pole laid across this to which the goods are hung, swinging beneath like a hammock. This cache is hung high enough to be out of reach of a standing bear. The tripod cache (Fig. 100) consists of three poles lashed at the top with the goods hung underneath. Another form of the prospector's cache is shown by Fig. 102, where two poles are used in place of one and an open platform of sticks laid across the poles; the goods are placed upon the platform. The tenderfoot's cache (Fig. 105) is one used only for temporary purposes as it is too easily knocked over and would be of no use where animals as large as bears might wreck it. It consists of two sticks lashed together at their small ends and with their butt ends buried in the earth; their tops are secured by a rope to a near-by tree while the duffel is suspended from the top of the longest pole. The "Montainais" cache is an elevated platform upon which the goods are placed and covered with skins or tarpaulin or tent-cloth (Fig. 99). The "Andrew Stone" cache is a miniature log cabin placed on the ground and the top covered with halved logs usually weighted down with stones (Fig. 101). The "Belmore Browne" cache consists of a pole or a half of a log placed in the fork of the two trees on top of which the goods are held in place by a rope and the whole covered with a piece of canvas lashed together with eyelets, like a shoe (Fig. 103). The "Herschel Parker" cache is used where the articles to be cached are in a box. For this cache two poles are lashed to two trees, one on each side of the trees (Fig. 104), and across the two poles the box is placed. We now come to more pretentious caches, the first of which is the "Susitna," which is a little log cabin built on a table with four long legs. The poles or logs composing the legs of the table are cut in a peculiar fashion, as shown in the diagram to the left of Fig. 107; this is intended to prevent animals from climbing to the top; also, as a further protection, pieces of tin are sometimes tacked around the poles so as to give no foothold to the claws of the little animals. Fig. 106 shows two other methods sometimes adopted to protect small caches and Fig. 108 is still another method of using logs which have the roots still attached to them for supports. Such logs can be used where the ground is too stony to dig holes for posts. Fig. 109 shows another form of the Susitna cache wherein the goods are packed in a box-like structure and covered with tent-cloth tightly lashed down. The "Dillon Wallace" cache (Fig. 110) is simply a tent erected over the goods and perched on an elevated platform. The "Fred Vreeland" cache is a good, solid, practical storehouse. It is built of small logs on a platform, as shown by Fig. 111, and the bottom of the building is smaller than it is at the eaves. It is covered with a high thatched roof and is ornamental as well as useful. Fig. 106. Fig. 107. Fig. 108. Fig. 109. Fig. 110. Fig. 111. [Illustration: Cabin caches.] These caches might really belong to a book of woodcraft, but it is another case of the "ileum and jejunum," and we will rule that they technically come under the head of shacks, sheds, shelters, and shanties and so are included in this volume; but there is another and a very good reason for publishing them in this book, and that is because some of them, like Figs. 107 and 111, suggest novel forms of ornamental houses on country estates, houses which may be used for corn-cribs or other storage or, like the tree-top houses, used for pleasure and amusement. XVIII HOW TO USE AN AXE THE old backwoodsmen were as expert with their axes as they were with their rifles and they were just as careful in the selection of these tools as they were in the selection of their arms. Many a time I have seen them pick up a "store" axe, sight along the handle, and then cast it contemptuously aside; they demanded of their axes that the cutting edge should be exactly in line with the point in the centre of the butt end of the handle. They also kept their axes so sharp that they could whittle with them like one can with a good jack-knife; furthermore, they allowed _no one_ but themselves to use their own particular axe. In my log house in the mountains of Pike County, Pa., I have a table fashioned entirely with an axe; even the ends of the boards which form the top of the table were cut off by Siley Rosencranz with his trusty axe because he had no saw. Both General Grant and Abraham Lincoln were expert axemen, and probably a number of other Presidents were also skilful in the use of this tool; but it is not expected that the modern vacation pioneer shall be an expert, consequently a few simple rules and suggestions will be here given to guide the amateur and he must depend upon his own judgment and common sense to work out the minor problems which will beset him in the use of this tool. Dangers All edged tools are dangerous when in the hands of "chumps," dangerous to themselves and to any one else who is near them. For instance, only a chump will use an axe when its head is loose and is in danger of flying off the handle; only a chump will use his _best_ axe to cut roots or sticks lying flat on the ground where he is liable to strike stones and other objects and take the edge off the blade. Only a chump will leave an axe lying around on the ground for people to stumble over; if there is a stump handy at your camp and you are through using the axe, strike the blade into the top of the stump and leave the axe sticking there, where it will be safe from injury. Remember, before chopping down a tree or before using the axe at all, to see that there is enough space above and around you to enable you to swing the axe clear (Fig. 112) without the danger of striking bushes or overhanging branches which may deflect the blade and cause accidents more or less serious. Do not stand behind a tree as it falls (Fig. 115), for the boughs may strike those of a standing tree, causing the butt to shoot back or "kick," and many a woodsman has lost his life from the kick of a falling tree. Before chopping a tree down, select the place where it is to fall, a place where it will not be liable to lodge in another tree on its way down. Do not try to fell a tree against the wind. Cut a notch on the side of the tree facing the direction you wish it to fall (Fig. 113) and cut it half-way through the trunk. Make the notch, or kerf, large enough to avoid pinching your axe in it. If you discover that the notch is going to be too small, cut a new notch, _X_ (Fig. 116), some inches above your first one, then split off the piece _X_, _Y_ between the two notches, and again make the notch _X_, _Z_, and split off the piece _Z_, _W_, _Y_ (Fig. 116), until you make room for the axe to continue your chopping. When the first kerf is finished begin another one on the opposite side of the tree a little higher than the first one (Fig. 114). When the wood between the two notches becomes too small to support the weight of the tree, the top of the tree will begin to tremble and waver and give you plenty of time to step to one side before it falls. Fig. 112. Fig. 113. Fig. 114. Fig. 115. Fig. 116. Fig. 117. Fig. 118. [Illustration: How to "fall" a tree and how to take off the bark.] If the tree (Fig. 117) is inclined in the opposite direction from which you wish it to fall, it is sometimes possible (Fig. 117) to block up the kerf on the inclined side and then by driving the wedge over the block force the tree to fall in the direction desired; but if the tree inclines too far this cannot be done. There was a chestnut-tree standing close to my log house and leaning toward the building. Under ordinary circumstances felling this tree would cause it to strike the house with all the weight of its trunk and branches. When I told Siley Rosencranz I wanted that tree cut down he sighted up the tree, took a chew of tobacco, and walked away. For several days he went through the same performance, until at last one day he brought out his trusty axe and made the chips fly. Soon the chestnut was lying prone on the ground _pointing away_ from the house. What this old backwoodsman did was to wait until a strong wind had sprung up, blowing in the direction that he wanted the tree to fall, and his skilful chopping with the aid of the wind placed the tree exactly where he wished it. Fig. 118 shows how to make the cuts on a standing tree in order to remove the bark, which is done in the same manner as that described for removing the birch bark (Fig. 38). XIX HOW TO SPLIT LOGS, MAKE SHAKES, SPLITS, OR CLAPBOARDS. HOW TO CHOP A LOG IN HALF. HOW TO FLATTEN A LOG. ALSO SOME DON'TS LOGS are usually split by the use of wedges, but it is possible to split them by the use of two axes. Fig. 119 shows both methods. To split with the axe, strike it smartly into the wood at the small end so as to start a crack, then sink the axe in the crack, _A_. Next take the second axe and strike it in line with the first one at _B_. If this is done properly it should open the crack wide enough to release the first axe without trouble, which may then be struck in the log at _C_. In this manner it is possible to split a straight-grained piece of timber without the use of wedges. The first axe should be struck in at the smaller or top end of the log. To split a log with wedges, take your axe in your left hand and a club in your right hand and, by hammering the head of your axe with the club, drive the blade into the small end of the log far enough to make a crack deep enough to hold the thin edge of your wedges. Make this crack all the way across the end of the log, as in Fig. 119. Put two wedges in the end of the log, as in the diagram, and drive them until the wood begins to split and crack along the sides of the log; then follow up this crack with other wedges, as shown at _D_ and _E_, until the log is split in half. While ordinary wood splits easily enough with the grain, it is very difficult to drive an axe through the wood at right angles to the grain, as shown by diagram to the left (Fig. 120); hence, if the amateur be chopping wood, if he will strike a slanting blow, like the one to the right in Fig. 120, he will discover that the blade of his axe will enter the wood; whereas, in the first position, where he strikes the grain at right angles, it will only make a dent in the wood and bounce the axe back; but in striking a diagonal blow he must use care not to slant his axe too far or the blade of the axe may only scoop out a shallow chip and swing around, seriously injuring the axeman or some one else. If it is desired to cut off the limb of a tree, do not disfigure the tree by tearing the bark down; trees are becoming too scarce for us to injure them unnecessarily; if you cut part way through the limb on the under-side (see the right-hand diagram, Fig. 121) and then cut partly through from the top side, the limb will fall off without tearing the bark down the trunk; but if you cut only from the top (see left-hand diagram, Fig. 121), sooner or later the weight of the limb will tear it off and make an ugly wound down the front of the tree, which in time decays, makes a hollow, and ultimately destroys the tree. A neatly cut branch, on the other hand, when the stub has been sheared off close to the bark, will heal up, leaving only an eye-mark on the bark to tell where the limb once grew. If it is desired to chop a log up into shorter pieces, remember to stand on the log to do your chopping, as in Fig. 122. This will do away with the necessity of rolling the log over when you want to chop on the other side. Do not forget to make the kerf, or notch, _C_, _D_ the same as _A_, _B_; in other words, the distance across the notch should equal the diameter of the log. If you start with too narrow a kerf, or notch, before you finish you will be compelled to widen it. Fig. 119. Fig. 120. Fig. 121. Fig. 122. Fig. 123. Fig. 124. Fig. 125. Fig. 126. Fig. 127. Fig. 128. Fig. 129. Fig. 130. Fig. 131. Fig. 131A. Fig. 131B. [Illustration: How to split a log, chop a log, flatten a log, and trim a tree.] To flatten a log you must _score and hew_ it. Scoring consists in making a number of notches, _C_, _D_, _E_, _F_, _G_, _H_, _J_, etc., to the depth of the line _A_, _B_ (Figs. 123 and 124); hewing it is the act of chopping off or splitting off the pieces _A_, _C_ and _C_, _D_ and _D_, _E_, etc., leaving the surface flat, as shown by Fig. 125, which was known among the pioneers as a puncheon and with which they floored their cabins before the advent of the saw-mill and milled lumber. Perhaps it will be advisable for the amateur to take a chalk-line and snap it from _A_ to _B_ (Fig. 123), so that he may be certain to have the flat surface level. The expert axeman will do this by what he calls "sensiation." It might be well to say here that if you select for puncheons wood with a straight grain and wood that will split easily you will simplify your task, but even mean, stubborn wood may be flattened by scoring and hewing. Quoting from Horace Kephart's excellent book on woodcraft, an experienced man can tell a straight-grained log "by merely scanning the bark"; if the ridges and furrows of the bark run straight up and down the wood will have a corresponding straight grain, but if they are spiral the wood will split "waney" or not at all. "Waney" is a good word, almost as good as "sensiation"; so when you try to quarter a log with which to chink your cabin or log house don't select a "waney" log. To quarter a log split it as shown in Fig. 119 and split it along the dotted lines shown in the end view of Fig. 126. In the Maine woods the woodsmen are adepts in making shakes, splits, clapboards, or shingles by the use of only an axe and splitting them out of the billets of wood from four to six feet long. The core of the log (Fig. 130) is first cut out and then the pieces are split out, having wedge-shaped edges, as shown by the lines marked on Fig. 127. They also split out boards after the manner shown by Fig. 128. In making either the boards or the shakes, if it is found that the wood splinters down into the body of the log too far or into the board or shake too far, you must commence at the other end of the billet or log and split it up to meet the first split, or take hold of the split or board with your hands and deftly tear it from the log, an art which only experience can teach. I have seen two-story houses composed of nothing but a framework with sides and roof shingled over with these splits. In the West they call these "shake" cabins. It may be wise before we close this axeman's talk to caution the reader against chopping firewood by resting one end of the stick to be cut on a log and the other end on the ground, as shown in Fig. 131, and then striking this stick a sharp blow with the axe in the middle. The effect of this often is to send the broken piece or fragment gyrating through the air, as is shown by the dotted lines, and many a woodchopper has lost an eye from a blow inflicted by one of these flying pieces; indeed, I have had some of my friends meet with this serious and painful accident from the same cause, and I have seen men in the lumber fields who have been blinded in a similar manner. There are two sorts of axes in general use among the lumbermen; but the double-bitted axe (131 _A_) appears to be the most popular among lumberjacks. My readers, however, are not lumberjacks but campers, and a double-bitted axe is a nuisance around camps. It is always dangerous and even when one blade is sunk into the tree the other blade is sticking out, a menace to everybody and everything that comes near it. But the real old-fashioned reliable axe (131 _B_) is the one that is exceedingly useful in a camp, around a country place, or a farm. I even have one now in my studio closet here in the city of New York, but I keep it more for sentiment's sake than for any real use it may be to me here. XX AXEMEN'S CAMPS The Stefansson Sod Shack NOW that we know how to wield the axe we can begin on more ambitious structures than those preceding. We may now build camps in which we use logs instead of poles. Most of these camps are intended to be covered with sod or earth and are nearly related to the old prairie dugout. The sod house is used in the arctic regions because it is warm inside, and it is used in the arid regions because it is cool inside. You will note that the principle on which the Stefansson is constructed (Fig. 135) is practically the same as that of the Pontiac (Fig. 36); the Stefansson frame, however, is made of larger timbers than the Pontiac because it not only must support a roof and side of logs and sod but must also be able to sustain any quantity of snow. First erect two forked upright sticks (Fig. 132), and then steady them by two braces. Next lay four more logs or sticks for the side-plates with their butt ends on the ridge-pole and their small ends on the ground as in Fig. 133. Support these logs by a number of small uprights--as many as may be necessary for the purpose. The uprights may have forks at the top or have the top ends cut wedge-shaped to fit in notches made for that purpose in the side-plates as shown by Fig. 133 _A_. The shortest uprights at the end of the roof should be forked so that the projecting fork will tend to keep the roof logs from sliding down. The roof is made by a number of straight rafters placed one with the butt in front, next with the butt in the rear alternately, so that they will fit snugly together until the whole roof is covered. The sides are made by setting a number of sticks in a trench and slanting them against the roof; both sides, front, and rear of the building should project six inches above the roof in order to hold the sod and dirt and keep it from sliding off. Fig. 132. Fig. 133. Fig. 133A Fig. 134. Fig. 135. [Illustration: Details of the Stefansson sod shack.] Up in the north country one must not expect to find green, closely cropped lawns or even green fields of wild sod in all places. Although in some parts the grass grows taller than a man's head, in other places the sod is only called so by courtesy; it really consists of scraggy grass thinly distributed on gravelly and sandy, loose soil, and consequently we must secure the sod by having the walls project a little above the rafters all around the building. Of course, in summer weather this roof will leak, but then one may live in a tent; but when cold weather comes and the sod is frozen hard and banked up with snow the Stefansson makes a good, warm dwelling. The same style of a camp can be made in the temperate zone of smaller trees and shingled with browse, or in the South of cane or bamboo and shingled with palmetto leaves, or in the Southwest of cottonwood where it may be covered with adobe or mud. Fig. 134 shows a Stefansson shack roofed with sod. The front is left uncovered to show its construction and also to show how the doorway is made by simply leaving an opening like that in a tent. In winter this may have a hallway built like the one described in the Navajo earth lodge (Fig. 35) or in the Pawnee hogan (Figs. 42 and 43), and in milder weather the doorway may be protected with a skin. An opening is left in the roof over the fireplace, which answers the purpose of a chimney. The author aims to take hints from all the primitive dwellings which may be of service to outdoor people; the last one described was arbitrarily named the Stefansson because that explorer built himself such shelters in the far North, but he did not invent them. He borrowed the general plan from the natives of the northern country and adapted it to his use, thereby placing the official stamp on this shack as a useful building for outdoor people and, consequently, as deserving a place in this book. XXI RAILROAD-TIE SHACKS, BARREL SHACKS, AND CHIMEHUEVIS NO observing person has travelled far upon the American railroads without noticing, alongside the tracks, the queer little houses built of railroad ties by Italian laborers. These shacks are known by the name of dagoes (Fig. 136) and are made in different forms, according to the ingenuity of the builder. The simplest form is the tent-shaped shown in Fig. 136, with the ends of the ties rested together in the form of a tent and with no other support but their own weight (see the diagram to the right, Fig. 136). I would not advise boys to build this style, because it might make a trap to fall in upon them with serious results, but if they use a ridge-pole like the one shown in Fig. 139 and against it rest the ties they will do away with the danger of being caught in a deadfall trap. Of course, it is understood that the ridge-pole itself must first be secure. Railroad ties being flat (Fig. 137), they may be built up into solid walls (Fig. 137) and make neat sides for a little house; or they may be set up on edge (Fig. 138) and secured in place by stakes driven upon each side of them; or they may be made into the form of an open Adirondack camp (Figs. 139 and 140) by resting the ties on a ridge-pole supported by a pair of "shears" at each end; the shears, as you will observe, consist of two sticks bound together near the top and then spread apart to receive the ridge-pole in the crotch. Fig. 136. Fig. 137. Fig. 138. Fig. 139. Fig. 140. Fig. 141. Fig. 142. Fig. 143. [Illustration: Railroad-tie shacks, barrel shack, and a Chimehuevis.] All of these structures are usually covered with dirt and sod, and they make very comfortable little camps. In the Southwest a simple shelter, the "Chimehuevis," is made by enclosing a room in upright poles (Fig. 141) and then surrounding it with a circle of poles supporting a log or pole roof covered with sod, making a good camp for hot weather. Fig. 142 shows a barrel dugout. It is made by digging a place for it in the bank and, after the floor is levelled off, setting rows of barrels around the foundation, filling these barrels with sand, gravel, or dirt, then placing another row on top of the first, leaving spaces for a window and a door, after which the walls are roofed with logs and covered with sod, in the same manner as the ones previously described. The dirt is next filled around the sides, except at the window opening, as shown by Fig. 142. A barrel also does duty as a chimney. Shacks like this are used by homesteaders, miners, trappers, and hunters; in fact, these people use any sort of material they have at hand. When a mining-camp is near by the freight wagons are constantly bringing in supplies, and these supplies are done up in packages of some kind. Boards are frequently worth more a yard than silk, or were in the olden days, and so the home builders used other material. They built themselves houses of discarded beer bottles, of kerosene cans, of packing-boxes, of any and every thing. Usually these houses were dugouts, as is the barrel one shown in Fig. 142. In the big-tree country they not infrequently made a house of a hollow stump of a large redwood, and one stone-mason hollowed out a huge bowlder for his dwelling; but such shacks belong among the freak shelters. The barrel one, however, being the more practical and one that can be used almost anywhere where timber is scarce but where goods are transported in barrels, deserves a place here among our shacks, shelters, and shanties. XXII THE BARABARA THE houses along the coast of the Bering Sea are called barabaras, but the ones that we are going to build now are in form almost identical with the Pawnee hogan (Figs. 42 and 43), the real difference being in the peculiar log work of the barabara in place of the teepee-like rafters of the said hogan. To build a barabara you will need eight short posts for the outside wall and six or eight longer posts for the inside supports (Fig. 145). The outside posts should stand about three feet above the ground after they have been planted in the holes dug for the purpose. The top of the posts should be cut wedge-shaped, as shown by Fig. 144, in order to fit in the notch _B_ (Fig. 144). The cross logs, where they cross each other, should be notched like those of a log cabin (Figs. 162 and 165) or flattened at the points of contact. Plant your first four posts for the front of your barabara in a line, two posts for the corners _B_ and _E_ (Fig. 145 _A_), and two at the middle of the line _C_ and _D_ for door-jambs (plan, Fig. 145 _A_). The tops of these posts should be level with each other so that if a straight log is placed over them the log will lie level. Next plant the two side-posts _F_ and _G_ (Fig. 145 _A_) at equal distances from the two front posts and make them a few feet farther apart than are the front posts. The sketch of the framework is drawn in very steep perspective, that is, it is made as if the spectator was on a hill looking down upon it. It is drawn in this manner so as to better show the construction, but the location of the posts may be seen in the small plan. Next set the two back posts, _H_ and _K_, and place them much closer together, so that the bottom frame when the rails are on the post will be very near the shape of a boy's hexagonal kite. Fig. 144. Fig. 145. Fig. 145A. Fig. 146. Fig. 147. Fig. 148. [Illustration: The details of a Barabara.] Inside erect another set of posts, setting each one opposite the outside ones and about a foot and a half or two feet farther in, or maybe less distance, according to the material one is using. Next set some posts for the hallway or entrance, which will be the door-jambs, and you are ready to build up the log roof. Do this by first setting the rail securely on the two side-posts on the right and left of the building; then secure the back plate on the two back posts at the rear of the building, next resting a long log over the side rails at the front of the building. The door-posts, of course, must be enough taller than the two end posts to allow for the thickness of the log, so that the front log will rest upon their top. Next put your two corner logs on, and your outside rail is complete. Build the inside rail in the same manner; then continue to build up with the logs as shown in the diagram until you have a frame like that in Fig. 145. Fig. 147 shows the inside of the house and the low doorway, and Fig. 148 shows the slanting walls. This frame is supposed to be covered with splits or shakes (Figs. 147 and 148), but, as in all pioneer structures, if shakes, splits, and clapboards are unobtainable, use the material at hand--birch bark, spruce bark, tar paper, old tin roofing, tent-cloth, or sticks, brush, ferns, weeds, or round sticks, to cover it as you did with the Pawnee hogan (Figs. 42 and 43). Then cover it with browse, or thatch it with hay or straw and hold the thatch in place with poles or sticks, as shown in Fig. 146. The barabara may also be covered with earth, sod, or mud. This sort of a house, if built with planks or boards nailed securely to the rafters and covered with earth and sod, will make a splendid cave house for boys and a playhouse for children on the lawn, and it may be covered with green growing sod so as to have the appearance of an ornamental mound. The instinct of the cave-dweller is deeply implanted in the hearts of boys, and every year we have a list of fatal accidents caused by the little fellows digging caves in sand-banks or banks of gravel which frequently fall in and bury the little troglodytes, but they will be safe in a barabara. The shack is ventilated by a chimney hole in the roof as shown by Fig. 146. This hole should be protected in a playhouse. The framework is a good one to use in all parts of the country for more or less permanent camps, but the long entrance and low doorway are unnecessary except in a cold climate or to add to the mystery of the cave house for children. It is a good form for a dugout for a root house or cyclone cellar. XXIII THE NAVAJO HOGAN, HORNADAY DUGOUT, AND SOD HOUSE IF the reader has ever built little log-cabin traps he knows just how to build a Navajo hogan or at least the particular Navajo hogan shown by Figs. 148 and 150. This one is six-sided and may be improved by notching the logs (Figs. 162, 164, 165) and building them up one on top of the other, dome-shaped, to the required height. After laying some rafters for the roof and leaving a hole for the chimney the frame is complete. In hot countries no chimney hole is left in the roof, because the people there do not build fires inside the house; they go indoors to keep cool and not to get warm; but the Navajo hogan also makes a good cold-country house in places where people really need a fire. Make the doorway by leaving an opening (Fig. 150) and chinking the logs along the opening to hold them in place until the door-jamb is nailed or pegged to them, and then build a shed entranceway (Fig. 153), which is necessary because the slanting sides of the house with an unroofed doorway have no protection against the free entrance of dust and rain or snow, and every section of this country is subject to visits from one of these elements. The house is covered with brush, browse, or sod. Log Dugout Fig. 152 shows how to make a log dugout by building the walls of the log cabin in a level place dug for it in the bank. Among the log cabins proper (Figs. 162 and 166) we tell how to notch the logs for this purpose. Fig. 149. Fig. 150. Fig. 151. Fig. 152. Fig. 153. Fig. 154. [Illustration: Forms of dugouts and mound shacks.] Fig. 151 shows one of these log dugouts which I have named the Hornaday from the fact that Doctor William Hornaday happens to be sitting in front of the one represented in the sketch. Fig. 154 shows a dugout with walls made of sod which is piled up like stones in a stone wall. The roofs of all these are very flat and made of logs (Figs. 54, 55, and 56), often with a log pegged to the rafters above the eaves to hold the sod. All such houses are good in dry countries, cold countries, and countries frequented by tornadoes or by winds severe enough to blow down ordinary camps. The Navajo hogan is an easy sort of a house for boys to build because the lads may use small poles in place of logs with which to build the camp and thus make the labor light enough to suit their undeveloped muscles, but the next illustration shows how to build an American boy's hogan of milled lumber such as one can procure in thickly settled parts of the country. XXIV HOW TO BUILD AN AMERICAN BOY'S HOGAN THE first time any working plans of an underground house for boys were published was when an article by the present writer on the subject appeared in the _Ladies' Home Journal_. Afterward it was published with a lot of similar material in "The Jack of All Trades." Since then other writers have not hesitated to use the author's sketches with very little alteration; imitation is the sincerest compliment, although it is not always fair, but it does, however, show the popularity of the underground-house idea. The American boy's hogan may be built like the preceding shacks of the material found in the woods or it may be constructed of old boards and waste material to be found in village back yards or on the farm, or, if the boys have the price or if they can interest their fathers or uncles in their scheme, it may be built of milled lumber procured at the lumber-yard. Frame Procure some good, sound planks and some pieces of two by four with which to build your frame. The hogan should be large enough to allow room for a table made of a packing-case, some benches, stools, or chairs, and the ceilings should be high enough for the tallest boy to stand erect without bumping his head. Furniture One funny thing about this house is that it must be furnished before it is built, because the doorway and passageway will be too small to admit any furniture larger than a stool. Select or make your furniture and have it ready, then decide upon the location of your hogan, which should be, like the Western dugouts, on the edge of some bank (Fig. 158). In this diagram the dotted line shows how the bank originally sloped. Foundation The real hard work connected with this is the digging of the foundation; one Y. M. C. A. man started to build one of these hogans, but he "weakened" before he had the foundation dug. He wrote the author a long letter complaining of the hard work; at the same time the author was receiving letters from _boys_ telling how much fun they had in building and finishing their underground houses. Caves Ever since "Robinson Crusoe" and "Swiss Family Robinson" were written cave houses have been particularly attractive to boys; no doubt they were just as attractive before these books were written, and that may be the reason the books themselves are so popular; at any rate, when the author was a small boy he was always searching for natural caves, or trying to dig them for himself, and so were all of his companions. One of the most charming features of the "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn" stories is that part connected with the cave. Fig. 155. Fig. 156. Fig. 157. Fig. 157.A. Fig. 157.B. Fig. 157.C. Fig. 158. Fig. 159. Fig. 160. Fig. 161. [Illustration: The original American boy's hogan or underground house.] Dangerous Caves The trouble is that with caves which the boys dig for themselves there is always serious danger of the roof falling in and smothering the young troglodytes, but a properly built underground hogan is perfectly safe from such accidents. Framing After you have levelled off the foundation erect the rear posts of two-by-fours _A_, _B_ and _C_, _D_ (Fig. 156). These posts should be of the same height and tall enough to allow the roof to slant toward the front as in Fig. 155. The front posts _E_, _F_ and _G_, _H_, although shorter than the back posts, should be tall enough to allow headroom. One, two, or three more posts may be erected between the post _A_, _B_ and the post _C_, _D_ if additional strength is required. The same is true of the sides, and in place of having only one post in the middle of each side (_M_, _N_ and _O_, _P_, Fig. 156), there may be two or three posts, all according to the size of the house you are building; the main point is to make _a compact and strong box_ of your framework so that in the wet weather the banks surrounding it will not be tempted to push in the sides and spoil your house. Decaying Wood Locust, chestnut, and cedar will last longer than other varieties of wood when exposed to contact with damp earth, but common wood, which rots easily, may be protected by preservatives, one of which is boiled linseed-oil with pulverized charcoal stirred into it until a black paint is produced. Some people say that a coat of charcoal paint will preserve even a basswood fence post for a lifetime, and if that is true a hogan protected by a coating upon the outside of paint made by stirring fine charcoal into boiled linseed-oil until it is as thick as paint will last longer than any of my readers will have occasion to use the hogan for a playhouse. Erect the frame (Fig. 156) by having some boys hold the uprights in place until they can be secured with temporary braces like those shown running diagonally across from _B_ to _E_ and _A_ to _F_. You may then proceed to board up the sides from the outside of the frame by slipping the planks between the frame and the bank and then nailing from the inside wherever you lack room upon the outside to swing your hammer. The door-jambs _I_, _J_ and _K_, _L_ will help support the roof. The Roof The roof may be made of lumber, as shown by Fig. 160, or it may be made of poles like those shown on the Wyoming Olebo (Fig. 236), or it may be made of planks and covered with tar paper (Figs. 296, 297, 298, and 299), or it may be shingled, using barrel staves for shingles, or covered with bits of old tin roofing tacked over the planking--or anything, in fact, which will keep out the water. As for looks, that will not count because the roof is to be afterward covered with sod. Cliff-House Roof If you wish to make the roof as the cliff-dwellers made theirs, put your biggest logs crosswise from _A_, _M_, _E_ to _C_, _O_, _G_ of your house for rafters, and across the larger logs lay a lot of small poles as close together as may be, running from the back to the front of the house. Fill in the cracks between with moss or calk them with dry grass; on them place a layer of brush, browse, or small sticks and over this a thick coating of clay, hard-pan, or ordinary mud and pack it down hard by tramping it with your feet until it becomes a smooth and tightly packed crust; over this you can put your sod and weeds to conceal your secret. Passageway To make the frame for the underground hall or passageway (Fig. 156), first nail _Q_, _S_ across the door-jambs to form the top to the doorway, after which put in the supports _Q_, _R_ and _S_, _T_. Next build the frame _U_, _V_, _X_, _W_ and join it to _Q_, _S_ by the two pieces _Q_, _U_ and _S_, _V_ and put in the middle frame support marked _ZZZZ_. The passageway should be about six feet long and the front doorway (_U_, _V_, _X_, _W_, Figs. 156 and 157) of sufficient size to enable you to creep through with comfort. The bottom piece _W_, _X_ can be nailed to a couple of sticks driven in the ground for that purpose. The next thing in order is the floor, and to make this firm you must lay a number of two-by-fours parallel to _B_, _D_ and _F_, _H_ and see that they are level. You will need a number of shorter pieces of the same material to run parallel to _F_, _H_ and _W_, _X_ for the hall floor, as may be seen in Fig. 157. Across these nail your floor securely as shown in Fig. 155. There are no windows shown in the diagram, but if the builders wish one it can be placed immediately over the entrance or hallway in the frame marked _I_, _K_, _Q_, _S_ (Fig. 156), in which case the top covering of dirt must be shovelled away from it to admit the light in the same manner that it is in the dugout shown in Fig. 142 and also in the small sketch (Fig. 154). The ventilator shown in Fig. 155 may be replaced, if thought desirable, by a chimney for an open fire. On account of the need of ventilation a stove would not be the proper thing for an underground house, but an open fire would help the ventilation. In the diagram the ventilator is set over a square hole in the roof; it may be made of a barrel or barrels, with the heads knocked out, placed over the hole in the roof, or kegs, according to the size of the roof. When your house is complete fill in the dirt around the edges, pack it down good and hard by the use of a piece of scantling two by four or four by four as a rammer, then cover the roof with small sticks and fine brush and sod it with growing weeds or grass. The Door You should have a good, stout front door (Fig. 157) and a padlock with which to secure it from trespassers. Aures Hinge A rustic hinge may be made by splitting a forked branch (Fig. 157 _C_) and using the two pieces nailed to the sides of the door-jambs (Fig. 157 _A_) to hold the round ends of the rod (Fig. 157 _B_) run through them. The middle of the _B_ stick is flattened to fit on the surface of the door to which it is nailed. This hinge was invented by Scout Victor Aures of stockade 41144 of Boy Pioneers of America and a description with neat diagrams sent by the inventor to his chief. When all is completed you can conceal the ventilator with dry brush or by planting weeds or shrubs around it, which will not interfere with the ventilation but will conceal the suspicious-looking pipe protruding from the ground. The top of the ventilator should be protected by slats, as in Fig. 161, or by wire netting with about one-quarter-inch mesh in order to keep small animals from jumping or hopping down into your club-house. Of course, a few toads and frogs, field-mice and chipmunks, or even some lizards and harmless snakes would not frighten any real boy, but at the same time they do not want any such creatures living in the same house with them. Trap-Door In place of a ventilator or chimney a trap-door may be placed in the roof and used as a secret entrance, access to inside being had by a ladder. A description of an appropriate ladder follows (Figs. 169 and 170). Fig. 159 shows a rude way to make a chandelier, and as long as your candles burn brightly you may know that the air in your little hogan is pure and fresh. When such a chandelier is used pieces of tin should be nailed above the candles to prevent the heat from burning holes through the roof. XXV HOW TO CUT AND NOTCH LOGS BOYS you have now passed through the _grammar school_ of shack making, you are older than you were when you began, you have acquired more skill and more muscle, and it is time to begin to handle the woodsman's axe, to handle it skilfully and to use it as a tool with which to fashion anything from a table to a two-story house. None of you is too young to learn to use the axe. General Grant, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Billy Sunday--all of them could wield an axe by the time they were eight or nine years old and do it without chopping off their toes or splitting any one else's head open. Remember that every time you hurt yourself with an axe I have a yellow ribbon for you to wear as a "chump mark"; but, joking aside, we must now get down to serious work of preparing the logs in order to build us a little cabin of our own, a log club-house for our gang, or a log camp for our troop of scouts. Notching Logs To make the logs hold together at the corners of our cabins it is necessary to lock them in some manner, and the usual way is to notch them. You may cut flat notches like those shown in Fig. 162 and this will hold the logs together, as shown by 162 _E_ or you may only flatten the ends, making the General Putnam joint shown in Fig. 163. This is called after General Putnam because the log cabins at his old camp near my farm at Redding, Conn., are made in this manner. Or you may use the Pike notch which has a wedge-shaped cut on the lower log, as shown by Fig. 164 _J_, made to fit into a triangular notch shown by 164 _H_. When fitted together these logs look like the sketch marked 164 _F_ which was drawn from a cabin built in this manner. But the simplest notch is the rounded one shown by _A_, _B_, and _C_ (Fig. 165). When these are locked together they will fit like those shown at Fig. 165 _D_. Away up North the people dovetail the ends of the logs (Fig. 166) so that their ends fit snugly together and are also securely locked by their dovetail shape. To build a log house, place the two sill logs on the ground or on the foundation made for them, then two other logs across them, as shown in Fig. 168. Handling the Logs That the logs may be more easily handled they should be piled up on a skidway which is made by resting the top ends of a number of poles upon a big log or some other sort of elevation and their lower ends upon the ground. With this arrangement the logs may be rolled off without much trouble as they are used. Chinking A log cabin built with hardwood logs or with pitch-pine logs can seldom be made as tight as one built with the straight spruce logs of the virgin forests. The latter will lie as close as the ones shown in Fig. 162 _E_, while the former, on account of their unevenness, will have large cracks between them like those shown in Fig. 165 _D_. These cracks may be stopped up by quartering small pieces of timber (_Y_ and _W_, Fig. 168½) and fitting these quartered pieces into the cracks between the logs where they are held by spikes. This is called "chinking the cabin." Fig. 162. Fig. 162E Fig. 163. Fig. 164. Fig. 164F. Fig. 165. Fig. 165C. Fig. 165D. Fig. 166. Fig. 167. Fig. 168. Fig. 168½. [Illustration: Showing how the logs are notched.] To keep the cold and wind out, the cracks may be "mudded" up on the inside with clay or ordinary lime mortar. Models Study these diagrams carefully, then sit down on the ground with a pile of little sticks alongside of you and a sharp jack-knife in your hand and proceed to experiment by building miniature log cabins. Really, this is the best way to plan a large cabin if you intend to erect one. From your model you can see at a glance just how to divide your cabin up into rooms, where you want to place the fireplace, windows, and doors; and I would advise you always to make a small model before building. Make the model about one foot three inches long by ten inches wide, using sticks for logs a little less than one inch in diameter--that is, one inch through or one inch thick. I have taken these dimensions or measurements from a little model that I have before me here in my studio, but, of course, you can vary them according to the plans of your cabin. XXVI NOTCHED LOG LADDERS EVER since man learned to use edged tools he has made ladders or steps, or whatever you may call them, by notching logs (Figs. 169 and 170). Fig. 169. Fig. 170. [Illustration: The pioneer log ladder.] A few years ago I took a splendid trip among the unnamed lakes and in what is known as "the unexplored country"--that is, the unmapped country of northwestern Quebec. We travelled over trails that had not been changed by man since canoes were invented. The forests were untouched by the axe of the white man. There were no roads, no houses, no fences, no people except a few wandering Indians, no cattle except caribou and moose, no dogs except wolves, and we slept at night on beds of balsam and paddled by day through rivers and lakes or carried our luggage and our canoes over the portages from one body of water to another over centuries-old trails. At one place the trail led up the side of a mountain to the beetling face of a cliff--a cliff that we had to climb with all our canoes and luggage, and we climbed it on a couple of notched logs, as shown in Fig. 169. By the way, boys, the Indian with the big load on his back is my old friend Bow-Arrow, formerly chief of the Montainais, and the load on his back was sketched from the real one he carried up that ladder portage. This old man was then sixty years of age. But all this talk is for the purpose of telling you the use of the notched log. Our pioneer ancestors used them to ascend to the loft over their cabins where they slept (Fig. 170). It is also a good ladder to use for tree-houses and a first-rate one for our underground hogans when we have an entrance through the top instead of one at the side shown by Fig. 156. Since you have learned how to use the axe you may make one of these primitive ladders to reach the hay-loft in your barn, if you have a barn. You may make the ladder of one log if you set the pole or log upright and notch it on both sides so that you can clasp it with your hand and, placing one foot on each side of it, climb up in that manner. XXVII A POLE HOUSE. HOW TO USE A CROSS-CUT SAW AND A FROE Pole House FIG. 171 shows a pole house--that is, a house, the walls of which are made by setting straight poles up on end with sides against each other and nailing a beam across the top (Fig. 172) and toe-nailing them (Fig. 173); that is, driving the nails slantingly down through the poles to the sill beneath. Fig. 172 shows how to nail them to the top beam or side-plate. To build a pole house, erect the four corner-posts and any intermediate posts which may be necessary, nailing the plates on top of the posts to hold the frame together (Fig. 172), afterward fitting the other posts in place, as shown in the sketch. We have not yet arrived at the part of the book where we can build as extensive houses as the one shown here. The drawing is only inserted at this place because it naturally comes with the use of the cross-cut saw. You can, however, without much trouble, build a small pole house without the veranda, and after you have learned how to build the big log houses you can turn back to this page and try a pole house like Fig. 171. Fig. 171. Fig. 172. Fig. 173. Fig. 174. Fig. 175. Fig. 176. Fig. 177. Fig. 178. Fig. 179. [Illustration: The use of the saw in log work.] Sawing on an Angle Fig. 174 shows how to saw off poles on the bias, as a woman would say, or on an angle, as a man would say. Suppose, for instance, you want to cut the poles to fit the dormer over the veranda shown in Fig. 171. Measure off the height of the middle pole, then the distance along the base from the middle pole to the corner at the eaves. Next fit the poles you are going to use closely together to cover that distance; hold them in place by nailing a plank temporarily across the bottom ends; then place another plank at the point marked for the height of the middle pole, run it down to the bottom plank, and nail it temporarily along this line. Now take hold of one end of the saw, as the fellow does in Fig. 174, and let another boy take the other end of the saw; then by working it back and forth along the line you may saw off the protruding ends of the poles. Proceed in the same manner along the base-board. You will then have half the dormer poles all nicely tacked together and cut in the right shape so that they may be evenly fitted in place, and after they are secured there the marking planks may be knocked off. Fig. 175 shows two boys at work "pit-sawing." They are sawing planks from a log, which is rather hard work but not unpleasant. I know, for I have tried it when I was up among the moonshiners in the mountains of Kentucky. Fig. 176 is from a sketch I made up in Michigan, where two men were sawing down a tree as they frequently do nowadays in place of chopping it down with an axe; this tree, however, was first notched with an axe so that it would fall in the right direction. Fig. 178 shows the peculiar teeth of one of these two-handled saws. It is not necessary for you to be expert on the sort of teeth a saw should have; any saw that cuts well for your purpose is the sort of saw you need. The Froe Fig. 179 shows two forms of the froe, an implement used for splitting shakes and shingles and clapboards like those on the roof of Fig. 171. The froe is held by the handle with the left hand and hammered on the top with a mallet held in the right hand. Fig. 177 shows two boys sawing a log up into sections, but for our work in cabin building the woodsman's axe is the real tool we need. The saw is all right and may be used if you have it, but it is a little too civilized for real woodcraft work. You cannot throw one of these saws over your shoulder as you would an axe and go marching into the woods with any comfort. The saw is also a more dangerous implement around camp than even a sharp axe. XXVIII LOG-ROLLING AND OTHER BUILDING STUNTS OF course my readers know all about geometry, but if by the rarest of chances one of them should not it will not prevent him from using that science to square the corners of his log cabin. Builders always have a ten-foot measuring rod--that is, a rod or straight stick ten feet long and marked with a line at each foot from end to end. Make your own ten-foot pole of as straight a piece of wood as you can find. With it measure six feet carefully on the log _C_, _G_ (Fig. 180) and mark the point at _O_ (Fig. 180); measure eight feet on the other log _C_, _A_ (Fig. 180) and mark the point at _N_. If these measurements have been carefully made from _C_ to _O_ and from _C_ to _N_ and your corner is "square," then your ten-foot pole will reach between the two points _O_ and _N_ with the tips of the pole exactly touching _O_ and _N_. If it does not exactly fit between _N_ and _O_, either the corner is not square or you have not marked off the distances accurately on the logs. Test the measurements and if they are not found true then push your logs one way or the other until it is exactly ten feet from _O_ to _N_. Then test the corner at _H_ in the same manner. Fig. 180. Fig. 181. Fig. 182. Fig. 183. [Illustration: How to square the corners, roll the logs of cabin, and make log steps.] Log-Rolling In the olden times log-rolling was always a great frolic and brought the people from far and near to lend a helping hand in building the new house. In handling logs, lumbermen have tools made for that purpose--cant-hooks, peevy irons, lannigans, and numerous other implements with names as peculiar as their looks--but the old backwoodsmen and pioneers who lived in log houses owned no tools but their tomahawks, their axes, and their rifles, and the logs of most of their houses were rolled in place by the men themselves pushing them up the skids laid against the cabin wall for that purpose; later, when the peddlers and traders brought ropes to the settlements, they used these to pull their logs in place. In building my log house in Pennsylvania we used two methods; one was hand power (Fig. 181). Taking two ropes we fastened the ends securely inside the cabin. We then passed the free ends of the ropes around the log, first under it and then over the top of it, then up to a group of men who, by pulling on the free ends, rolled the log (Fig. 181) up to the top of the cabin. But when Lafe Jeems and Nate Tanner and Jimmy Rosencranz were supplied with some oxen they fastened a chain to each end of the log (Fig. 182), then fastened a pulley-block to the other side of the cabin, that is, the side opposite the skids, and ran the line through the pulley-block to the oxen as it is run to the three men in Fig. 182. When the oxen were started the log slid up the skids to the loose rafters _N_, _O_, _P_ and when once up there it was easily shoved and fitted into place. Log Steps Sometimes one wants front steps to one's log house and these may be made of flattened logs or puncheons, as shown by Fig. 183. XXIX THE ADIRONDACK OPEN LOG CAMP AND A ONE-ROOM CABIN Adirondack Log Camp NOT satisfied with the open brush Adirondack camp, the men in those woods often build such camps of logs with a puncheon floor and a roof of real shingles. The sketch (Fig. 184) is made from such a camp. At the rear the logs are notched and placed like those of a log house (Figs. 162, 163, 164, 166), but the front ends of the side logs are toe-nailed (Fig. 173) to the two upright supports. In this particular camp the logs are also flattened on the inside in order to give a smoother finish, as they often are in old Virginia and Kentucky log houses. In Virginia they formerly hewed the logs flat with broad axes after the walls were up, but that required a workman of a different type than the ordinary woodsman. The broadaxe is seldom used now and may be omitted from our kit. Cabin Plan A one-room log cabin with double bunks at one end makes a good camp (Fig. 185) with room for two or four sleepers according to the width of the bunk (Fig. 186). Fig. 184. Fig. 185. Fig. 186. [Illustration: The lean-to and one-pen cabin plan.] The Bunks The bunks are made by setting the ends of two poles into holes in the logs bored for that purpose (Fig. 185) and nailing slats across the poles. Over this a bed of browse is laid and on this blankets are spread and all is then ready for bedtime. XXX THE NORTHLAND TILT AND INDIAN LOG TENT Log Tents SOME years ago in the north country the Indians built themselves log tents like the one shown in Fig. 187. These were the winter houses in the north country. A ridge-pole was set up on two forked sticks and the logs slanted up against each other and rested upon that pole. Smaller poles were then laid up against this frame, both front and rear, all of which could then be covered with sod or browse and made into a warm winter house. My boy readers may build a similar house by using small poles instead of big logs, or they may make a "northland tilt" (Fig. 189), which is a modification of the Indian's log tent and has two side-plates (Fig. 188) instead of one ridge-pole. The log chimney is also added, and when this is connected with a generous fireplace the fire will brighten and warm the interior of the tilt and make things comfortable. The chimney may be made by first building a fireplace of sod or stone, as shown in Figs. 269 and 270, on top of which a chimney can be erected in the same manner that you build a log house. Fig. 187. Fig. 188. Fig. 189. [Illustration: Log tilts of the North.] The front of the northland tilt is faced in with small logs set on end, as shown in the unfinished one (Fig. 189); this makes a substantial, warm winter camp. If the logs fit close together on the roof they may be calked with moss and dry grass. If the cracks are too wide on account of the unevenness of the log, cover them first with grass, fine brush, or browse and over all place a coating of sod or mud and you will have a house fit for a king to live in. To tell the truth, it is much too good for a mere king and almost good enough for a real American boy--that is, if anything is good enough for such a lad. CHAPTER XXXI HOW TO BUILD THE RED JACKET, THE NEW BRUNSWICK, AND THE CHRISTOPHER GIST THE "Red Jacket" is another camp; but this, you see, has straight walls, marking it as _a white man's camp_ in form not apparently borrowed from the red men. It is, however, a good, comfortable, rough camp and Figs. 190 and 191 show how it was evolved or grew. To build the Red Jacket one will first have to know how to build the more simple forms which we call the New Brunswick, then the next step will be the Christopher Gist, and last the Red Jacket. We will now begin with the New Brunswick. The New Brunswick By referring to Fig. 190 you will see that it is practically a deep, Adirondack, open-face camp with a wind-shield built in front of it. To build this camp, make the plan about six feet by twelve on the ground; of course the back logs must be something over six feet long to allow for six feet in the clear. Notch about four or five back logs with the plain, rounded notch already described and illustrated by Fig. 165. Then lay the side sill logs and erect two upright forked sticks for the front of your cabin to hold the cross stick which supports the roof rafter. Now build up your cabin as you would a log house, notching only the small ends of the side logs and saving the larger ends for the front; between each of these chink with other logs shaped to fit the spaces or with pieces of other logs so as to make the front higher than the rear. When the logs meet the rafter pole all the cracks are chinked up with small pieces of wood and the crevices calked with moss. Then the roof of bark is put on, shingled as described for the Pontiac, and illustrated by Figs. 36 and 190 _A_. The bark is kept in place by laying sticks or poles over it to weight it down, as may be seen by the plan of the roof (Fig. 190 _A_), which is supposed to be the way the unfinished roof would look to you if you were looking down upon it from the branch of a tree or an aeroplane. After you have your open-faced camp finished take some green logs from the fir-trees if they are handy and split them in half by one of the methods shown by Fig. 119. Then leaving enough room for a passageway, erect your wind-shield of green logs, resting them against a pole laid between two forked sticks. Be sure you have the green, split side of the log facing the camp and the bark side facing outdoors, because the green wood will not burn readily; and as the camp-fire is built close to the wind-shield, if the shield is made of very inflammable material it will soon burn down. Some woods, you know, burn well when green and some woods must be made dry before we can use them for fuel; but the wood we want for the fire-shield is the sort that will not burn readily; the good-burning woods we save to use in our fire. Christopher Gist The next camp is the Christopher Gist, named after George Washington's camping friend. This camp, as you may see by Fig. 191, is built like a New Brunswick except that the side sill logs are much longer as is also the log which extends over the doorway. Then, in place of having a wind-shield built by itself, the wind-shield in Fig. 191 is the other end of the cabin built just the same as the rear end, but it should be built of peeled logs as they are less liable to catch afire than the ones with the bark upon them. If you feel real lazy it will only be necessary to peel the bark off from the inside half of the log. Above the door at the end of the roof of the Adirondack camp part of the space is filled by logs running across, with the lower one resting upon the top of the door-jamb; this closes the shed above the wind-shield and leaves a little open yard in front wherein to build your camp-fire. Fig. 190. Fig. 190A. Fig. 191. Fig. 192. [Illustration: The stages in the evolution of a log cabin.] The Red Jacket The Red Jacket continues the suggestion offered by the Christopher Gist and extends the side walls all the way across to the wind-shield, and the latter now becomes the true end of the log shack. The side walls and end wall are built up from the top of the shack to form a big, wide log chimney under which the open camp-fire is built on the ground. The Red Jacket is roofed with bark in the same manner as the New Brunswick and Christopher Gist and occupies the important position of the missing link between the true log cabin or log house and the rude log camp of the hunter. If you will look at Fig. 184, the open-faced log camp; then Fig. 190, the camp with the wind-shield in front of it; then Fig. 191 with the wind-shield enclosed but still open at the top; then 192 where the wind-shield has turned into a fireplace with a chimney; then Figs. 271 and 273, showing the ends of the real log cabin, you will have all the steps in the growth or evolution which has produced the American log house. XXXII CABIN DOORS AND DOOR-LATCHES, THUMB-LATCHES AND FOOT LATCHES AND HOW TO MAKE THEM PERHAPS my reader has noticed that, although many of the descriptions of how to build the shacks, shanties, shelters, camps, sheds, tilts, and so forth are given with somewhat minute details, little or nothing has been said regarding the doors and door-latches. Of course we have no doors on the open Adirondack camp, but we have passed the open camps now and are well into cabin work, and all cabins have some sort of a door. All doors have, or should have, some sort of a door-latch, so the doors and door-latches have been saved for this place in the book, where they are sandwiched between the log cabin and the log houses proper, which is probably the best place for them. The "gummers" who collect spruce gum in the north woods and the trappers and all of the hermit class of woodsmen frequently come home to their little shack with their hands full of traps or with game on their shoulders, and consequently they want to have a door which may be opened without the necessity of dropping their load, and so they use a foot latch. Foot Latch One of the simplest of the foot latches consists of a piece of wood cut out by the aid of axe and hunting-knife to the form shown by Fig. 199; a hole in the door cut for that purpose admits the flattened and notched end and upon the inside it fits the round log sill. The owner of the shack, when reaching home, steps upon the foot latch (Fig. 199), which lifts up the catch (on the inside) and allows the door to swing open. Trigger Latch Fig. 200 shows a more complicated form of latch with a trigger protruding from the lower part of the door, which is hinged to a wooden shaft, and the shaft in turn is connected with the latch. The fastenings of the trigger to the shaft and the shaft to the latch are made with hardwood pegs or wire nails which move freely in their sockets. The latch is the simplest form of a wooden bar fastened at one end with a screw or nail on which it can move up and down freely; the other end is allowed to drop into the catch. The latch itself is similar to the one shown in Figs. 193 and 194. The trigger is also fastened to a block on the outside of the door by a nail or peg upon which it moves freely, so that when the weight of the foot is placed upon the trigger outside the door that end is forced down which pushed the end attached to the shaft up; this pushes the shaft up and the shaft pushes _the latch up_; thus the door is unfastened. The diagram to the left in Fig. 200 shows the edge of the door with the trigger on the outside, the shaft upon the inside. The diagram to the right in Fig. 200 shows the inside of the door, the end of the trigger, the shaft, the latch, and the catch. The Latch-String In the preceding locks and fastenings, no matter how generous and hospitable the owner may be, his latch-string never "hangs on the outside," but in this one the latch-string literally hangs outside and any one may enter by pulling it (Figs. 193 and 194). But when the owner is in and does not want to be interrupted he pulls the string in, which tells the outsider that he must knock before he can be admitted. This simplest form of latch has been here put upon the simplest form of a door, a door with a wooden hinge made by nailing a round rod to the edge of the door and allowing the ends of the rod to project above and below the door. In the sill log below the door a hole about two inches deep is bored to receive the short end of the hinge rod; above a deeper hole is bored to receive the long end of the hinge rod. To hang the door run the long end up in the top hole far enough to lift the door sufficiently to be able to drop the lower end of the hinge rod in the lower hole. Your door is then hung and may swing back and forth at your pleasure. Notwithstanding the fact that such a door admits plenty of cold air, it is a very popular door for camps and is even used for log houses. Fig. 193. Fig. 194. Fig. 195. Fig. 196. Fig. 197. Fig. 198. Fig. 199. Fig. 200. [Illustration: Foot and thumb door-latches.] Simple Spring-Latch A simple form of spring-latch is shown by Fig. 196, as you may see, _A_ is a peg driven into the door-jamb. It has a notch in it's outer end so that _B_, a piece of hickory, may be sprung into the notch; _B_ is fastened to the door by a couple of screws. By pushing the door the latch will slide out of the rounded notch and the door opens. When you pull the door to close it the end of the spring strikes the rounded end of the _A_ peg and, sliding over it, drops naturally into the slot and holds the door closed. This form of latch is also a good one for gates. Better Spring-Latch Figs. 197 and 198 show more complicated spring-latches but this latch is not so difficult to make as it may appear in the diagram. _A_ and _D_ (197) show, respectively, the wooden catch and the guard confining the latch. _C_ is another guard made, as you may observe, from a twig with a branch upon it; the twig is split in half and fastened at the base with two screws, and at the upper end, where the branch is bent down, is fastened with one screw. A guard like the one shown by _D_ (Fig. 197) would answer the purpose, but I am taking the latch as it was made. The lower diagram (Fig. 198) shows a side view of the edge of the door with two cotton spools fastened at each end of the stick which runs through a slot in the door. _E_ is the cotton spool on the outside of the door and _F_ the cotton spool on the inside of the door. The upper left-hand diagram (Fig. 198) shows the slot in the door and the spool as it appears from the outside. _B_ (Fig. 197) is the spring-latch which is held in place by the spool _F_. The stick or peg which runs through the spools and the slot also runs through a hole made for that purpose in the spring-latch, as shown at _F_ (Fig. 197). After the stick with the _E_ spool on it has been run through the slot from the outside of the door, thence through the spring-latch _B_ and into the spool _F_, it is fastened there by driving around its end some thin wedges of wood or by allowing it to protrude and running a small peg through the protruding end, as shown by _F_, _G_ (Fig. 197, lower diagram). The thin, springy end of your latch is now forced down by a peg or nail in the door at _H_ (Fig. 197) and the tail end of it forced up by a peg or nail at _K_. When this is done properly it will give considerable spring to the latch and impart a decided tendency to force the latch into the wooden catch, a tendency which can only be overcome by lifting the spool up in the slot and thus lifting the latch and allowing the door to open. Fig. 197 shows the inside of the door with the spring-latch, catches and all complete; it also gives details of the wooden catch _A_ with guards _D_ and _C_ and the fastening of the stick in the spool by a peg driven through the end of the stick at _F_, _G_. This last one is a good jack-knife latch to make for your camp or cabin. XXXIII SECRET LOCKS SECRET locks are more useful than strong ones for a country house which is left alone during the winter months, for it is not so much cupidity which causes such houses to be broken into as it is the curiosity of the native boys. But while these lads often do not hesitate to force or pick a lock they will seldom go as far as to smash a door to effect an entrance; hence, if your lock is concealed your house is safe from all but professional thieves, and such gentry seldom waste their time to break open a shack which contains nothing of value to them. The latches shown by Figs. 193, 200, and 201 may be made very heavy and strong, and if the trigger in Fig. 200, the latch-string hole in Fig. 193, and the peg hole in Fig. 201 are adroitly concealed they make the safest and most secure locks for summer camps, shacks, and houses. If a large bar (Fig. 201½ _B_) be made of one-by-four-inch plank, bolted in the middle of the plank with an iron bolt through the centre of the door and fastened on the inside by a nut screwed on to the bolt it will allow the bar to revolve freely on the inside of the door and bar the door when resting in the _A_ and _C_ catches. But if a string is attached to one end it may be unfastened by pulling the string up through the gimlet hole in the door. To conceal this lock, draw the string through the gimlet hole and fasten a nail on the string. When it is undrawn the door bar is horizontal and the door consequently barred. Then push the nail in the gimlet hole so that only the head appears on the outside and no one not in the secret will ever suppose that the innocent-appearing nail is the key to unfasten the door. When you wish to open the door from the outside, pluck out the nail, pull the string, and walk in. There are a thousand other simple contrivances which will suggest themselves to the camper, and he can find entertainment for rainy days in planning and enlarging on the ideas here given. In the real wilderness, however, every camp is open to all comers--that is, the latch-string hangs outside the door, but the real woodsmen respect the hospitality of the absent owner and replace whatever food they may use with fresh material from their own packs, wash all dishes they may use, and sweep up and leave the shack in "apple-pie" order after their uninvited visit, for this is the law of the wilderness which even horse thieves and bandits respect. The Tippecanoe The Tippecanoe latch is worked with a wooden spring and when properly made, of well-seasoned wood, will probably outlast a metal one, for wood will not rust and cannot rot unless subjected to moisture. The position of the spring in Fig. 201 shows the latch with the bolt sprung back. The fact that the bolt-hole in the catch is empty also tells the same story. The drawing of the outside of the door (Fig. 203) shows by the position of the peg that the door is fastened. To open the door, push back the bolt by sliding the peg to the opposite end of the slot. From a view of the edge of the door (Fig. 202) one may see how the peg protrudes on the outside of the door. Fig. 201. Fig. 201½. Fig. 202. Fig. 203. [Illustration: The Tippecanoe. A jack door-latch.] Although the Tippecanoe latch is made of quite a number of parts, it is really a very simple device, but in order to display the simplicity of its construction to the ambitious jack-knife latch maker I have drawn all the parts but the spring stick natural size (Figs. 204 to 207), but since the original diagram is drawn too large for this page and was reduced by the engraver there is a scale of inches at the bottom to give the reader the proportions. There are no fixed dimensions for this or any other lock, latch, or catch, but the proportions here given are probably the ones that will fit your door. The foundation block is shown by Fig. 204. Upon this the latch rests and is securely nailed or screwed to the door. Figs. 205 and 206 are two wooden clamps which are fastened to the door and also to the foundation block (Fig. 204). These clamps must be notched as in the diagrams to allow for the movement of the bolt, but since the bolt (Fig. 207) is larger and thicker at the butt the notch in Fig. 205 is made just a trifle larger than the butt end of the bolt and in Fig. 206 the notch is made a trifle smaller than the opposite end of the bolt. The object of the offset on the bolt (Fig. 207) forward of the peg is to make a shoulder to stop it from shooting too far when the spring is loosened. Fig. 204. Fig. 204½. Fig. 205. Fig. 206. Fig. 207. [Illustration: Detail parts of Tippecanoe door-latch.] The Catch Figs. 201 and 204½ show the catch which is to be securely fastened to the door-jamb. The spring, of course, must be made of well-seasoned, elastic wood. Hickory is the best. This stick may be quite long, say half again as long in proportion as the one shown in Fig. 201. It must be flattened at the upper end and secured by two nails and it must be flattened at right angles to the upper part and somewhat pointed at the lower end so as to fit in a notch in the bolt (Fig. 201). A well-made lock of this sort is a source of constant joy and pride to the maker and he will never tire of springing it back and forth and extolling its virtues to his guests. XXXIV HOW TO MAKE THE BOW-ARROW CABIN DOOR AND LATCH AND THE DEMING TWIN BOLTS, HALL, AND BILLY FIG. 209 shows the inside of the door with the wooden latch in place. You may use planks from the sawmill for the door in place of splitting them from spruce logs, as the ones here are supposed to be. The battens (_A_, _B_, _C_) are made of birch, but you may use any material at hand for them. The hinges (Figs. _E_, 211 _D_, 210) are made of birch sticks whittled off at the top so as to leave a peg (Fig. _E_, 211) to work in a hole in the flattened end of the horizontal battens (_A_ and _C_, Fig. 209). The batten _B_ is in two pieces. The top piece serves as a brace for the spring (Fig. _G_, 209) and the bottom piece as a support for the bolt (Fig. _H_, 209 and 212). The battens may be made of a piece of board. The bolt (Fig. _H_, 212) works free upon a nail in the left-hand end and rests in the catch (Fig. _K_, 215) on the door-jamb. The guard (Fig. _J_, 216) fits over the bolt and keeps it in place. The notch in the guard must be long enough to give the bolt free play up and down. The spring (Fig. _G_, 209) is fastened with a nail to the door in such a manner that its thin end rests upon the top of the bolt with sufficient force to bend the spring and hold the bolt down in the catch (Fig. _K_, 215). The thumb-latch (Fig. _L_, 213) is whittled out in the form shown, and fastened in a slot cut in the door by a nail driven through the edge of the door (Fig. _M_, 213) and through a hole in the thumb-latch (Fig. _L_, 213). On this nail the latch works up and down. Fig. 217 shows the outside of the door and you can see that by pressing down the thumb-latch on the outside it will lift it up on the inside, and with it the bolt lifts up the free end of the latch and thus unfastens the door. The handle (Figs. 217 and 214 _N_) is used in place of a door-knob. It is made of yellow birch bent in hot water. The Deming Twin Lock E. W. Deming, the painter of Indian pictures, the mighty hunter, and fellow member of the Camp-Fire Club of America, is a great woodsman. Not only is he a great woodsman but he is the father of _twins_, and so we have thought that he possesses all the characteristics necessary to entitle him to a place in this book, and after him and his twins we have named the twin bolts shown by Fig. 208. The lower or Hall bolt is shot into a hole in the door-sill, and the upper or Billy bolt is shot into a hole in the door-jamb above the door. The holes should be protected upon the surface of the wood by pieces of tin or sheet iron with holes cut in them to admit the bolt. The tins may be tacked over the bolt-hole in the sill for the Hall bolt and on the bolt-hole overhead for the Billy bolt, and it will prevent the splitting away of the wood around the holes. Guards Two guards, _A_ and _B_ (Fig. 208), made as in Fig. 216, protect the bolts and act as guides to keep them from swinging out of position; two springs _C_ and _D_ (Fig. 208), made of well-seasoned hickory and attached to the battens on the door by nails or screws, force the bolts down and up into the bolt-holes (Fig. 208). To release the bolts, the spring must be drawn back as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 208. This may be done by means of a string or picture wire, which is fastened in the ends of the bolts and runs through a hole in the ends of the spring and is attached to the lever _E_ (Fig. 208). When the end of this lever is pushed down into the position shown by the dotted line and arrow-point, it lifts up the Hall bolt at the bottom of the door and pulls down the Billy bolt overhead, thus unfastening the door. Fig. 208. Fig. 209. Fig. 210. Fig. 211. Fig. 212. Fig. 213. Fig. 214. Fig. 215. Fig. 216. Fig. 217. [Illustration: Jack-knife latches suitable for Canada and America.] But, of course, if one is outside the door one cannot reach the lever _E_; so, to overcome this difficulty, a hole is bored through the central batten of the door and the latch-string is tied to the top end of the lever and the other end is run through the hole bored in the door (Fig. 208). The end outside of the door is then tied to a nail; by pulling the nail you pull down the lever _E_, which undoes the bolts and opens the door. When it is desired to leave the door locked, after it is closed, push the nail into the latch-string hole so that only the head will be visible from the outside. When the nail and string are arranged in this manner, a stranger will see no means of opening the door, and, as there are many nail-heads in all rough doors, the one to which the latch-string is attached will not attract the attention of any one who is unacquainted with the Deming twin bolt. XXXV THE AURES LOCK LATCH THE Aures lock differs from the preceding ones in the use of metal springs, but wooden ones may be substituted; for instance, a wooden spring like the one in Fig. 209 may be put under the bolt or latch shown in Fig. 219, which is practically the same latch; that is, if you turn the latch in Fig. 209 upside down it will make the latch shown in Fig. 219; also, if you take the bolt or lock _B_ in Fig. 219 and make it of one piece of wood with a spring to it, like the one shown in Fig. 208 or Fig. 209, or make it exactly like the one shown in Fig. 201, the Aures lock can be made altogether of wood. But with this lock, as described below, metal springs were used (Figs. 219, 220, and 221). The Door The door shows the two strings _H_ and _K_ coming through gimlet holes near the top. Fig. 218 represents the outside of the door. The strings may be concealed by covering their ends with a board as shown in this diagram, but even if they are not concealed, one unacquainted with the lock will not know how to work them in order to open the door. _A_ in Figs. 219, 220, and 221 is the latch which is made of a piece of wood about eight or nine inches long by about one and one half inches wide by an inch or three quarters of an inch thick. A hole is drilled near the centre of the latch and a screw placed through which is screwed into the door so that the latch will extend about two or three inches beyond the end of the door. _D_ (Figs. 219, 220, and 221) is a catch or stop which is fastened to the door-jamb and keeps the end of the latch from flying too far up to lock the door. _B_ (Fig. 219) is the key which is made of the same sort of wood as the latch; a hole is drilled in this also but it is here placed about one inch from the top. A screw is run through this, as in the hole in the latch, and screwed into the door (Fig. 219). Fig. _C_, 219 is a small block of wood on which a steel-band spring has been screwed to keep the key in its proper place. The block is screwed to the door a short distance above the top of the key. Fig. _J_, 219 is a nail or peg placed in the door close beside the key when the key is vertical; this is intended to prevent the key from being shoved over too far by the force of the band spring _F_. Fig. 219 _L_ is a steel wire spring (a window-shade spring will answer the purpose), fastened to the door at one end and to the latch at the other end, and serves to keep the latch down and in place when locked. Fig. 219 _K_ is the latch-string, one end of which is fastened to one end of the latch and the other end run through a hole near the top of the door and extending outside the same as the latch-string (Fig. 218). Fig. 219 shows the positions of the latch and key when the latch is locked; to open the lock from the outside it is necessary to pull the key string first (_H_, Fig. 220), which releases the key; then pull the latch-string, thus lifting the latch while still holding the key string. The key string is now let go; the spring forcing the key into the position shown in Fig. 221 will keep the door unlocked. When leaving the room, all that is necessary is to pull the key string which lifts the key, then let go the latch-string, and the latch will spring back to its locked position and the key will also fly back into its position as in Fig. 219. Any one not knowing the combination will be unable to open the door. Fig. 218. Fig. 219. Fig. 220. Fig. 221. Fig. 222. Fig. 223. Fig. 224. Fig. 225. Fig. 226. Fig. 227. Fig. 228. [Illustration: Home-made cabin door-locks.] The Compass Lock This lock is made on the same principle as the combination safe lock, but it is a lock any bright boy can make for himself. In the first place, instead of numbers, use compass divisions; that is, use a disk with the points of the compass scratched on it and an ordinary door-knob with an index mark filed on its base, as shown by Fig. 224 where the finger is pointing. Hunt up three old door-knobs like those shown in Figs. 222, 224, and 225. When you take one of the door-knobs off one end of the shaft you will find several small screw holes in the steel shaft (Fig. 222). Over this end you set a block of hardwood which you fashion out of a square block (Fig. 223) by first cutting off the corners as shown by the dotted lines, then whittling the angles off until it becomes rounded like a compass face; after which saw off an arc, that is, part of a circle, as shown in Figs. 224, 226, and 227. Next make a square hole through the centre of the circle to fit the square end of the steel shaft of the door-knob. The square hole is not the centre of the block as it is now cut, but it is the centre of the block as it was when it was round; that is, the centre of the circle. Insert the square end of the steel shaft into the square hole in the block, and, through a hole carefully drilled for the purpose, put a screw down through the hole in the end of the steel shaft (Fig. 224); this will firmly fix the block on the end of the knob. Of course, the knob must be inserted through the door before the block is permanently fastened upon the end of the shaft. Fig. 225 shows the edge of the door with the three knobs in place. If these knobs are so turned (Fig. 226) that their flat edges are parallel with the crack of the door, there is nothing to prevent you from opening the door; but if the knobs are so turned (Fig. 227) that the blocks overlap the crack of the door, the door cannot be opened without breaking the lock. It is evident that we must have some sort of a mark to tell us how to make the proper combination so that the door may be opened. To do this, take the metal washer of the door-knob (the upper figure in Fig. 228) or a circular piece or disk of tin and divide it up like a compass (Fig. 228). Fasten these disks securely on to the door with nails or screws; place all of the disks with the north point pointing to the top of the door and in line with each other. File in the circular base of each door-knob (Fig. 224) a little notch at the black mark where the finger is pointing, then put the door-knobs in place and fasten them there (Fig. 225) by screwing the block on their ends (Fig. 224) and securing the screws in the blocks by running them through the shaft. Carefully turn the knobs so that the block on the inside fits like those shown in Fig. 226. Jot down in your notebook the position of the index on each knob (finger point, 224); one may read northeast, another may read southwest, and another may read south. When one wants to open the door one must turn the knobs so that they will read according to the notes and the door may be opened; but unless the indexes read as noted some of them will be turned as in Fig. 227, locking the door, and it may not be opened. When the door is closed, twist the knobs around and it will lock them so that no one else can open the door unless they know the combination. The fact that there _is_ a combination will not be suggested to a stranger by the compasses, although it might be suggested if there were figures in place of compass points. But even supposing they did suspect a combination it would take a long time for them to work it out, and no one would do it but a thief. A burglar, however, would not take the time; he would pry open the door with his "jimmy" and, as I have said before, these locks are for the purpose of keeping out tramps, vagrants, and inquisitive boys. We have no locks yet invented which will keep out a real, professional burglar if he has reason to suppose there are valuables inside. The safety of your log cabin depends principally upon the fact that valuables are not kept in such shacks, and real burglars know it. XXXVI THE AMERICAN LOG CABIN NOW that we know how to make doors and door-latches, locks, bolts, and bars, we may busy ourselves with building an American log cabin. It is all well enough to build our shacks and shanties and camps of logs with the bark on them, but, when one wishes to build a log cabin, one wants a house that will last. Abraham Lincoln's log cabin is still in existence, but it was built of logs with no bark on them. There is a two-story log house still standing in Dayton, O.; it is said to have been built before the town was there; but there is no bark on the logs. Bark holds moisture and moisture creates decay by inviting fibrous and threadlike cousins of the toadstool to grow on the damp wood and work their way into its substance. The bark also shelters all sorts of boring insects and the boring insects make holes through the logs which admit the rain and in the end cause decay, so that the first thing to remember is to peel the logs of which you propose to build the cabin. There is now, or was lately, a log cabin on Hempstead Plains, L. I., near the road leading from Mineola to Manhassett; it is supposed to have been built when the first white settlers began to arrive on Long Island, but this was what was known as a "blockhouse," a small fort. In 1906 Mr. I. P. Sapington said: "I think that I am the only man now living who helped build General Grant's log cabin." Grant's house was what is popularly known in the South as a "saddle-bag" log house, or, as the old Southwestern settlers called it, a "two-pen," the pens being two enclosures with a wide passageway or gallery between them, one roof extending over both pens and the gallery. General Grant was not afraid of work, and, like a good scout, was always willing to help a neighbor. He had a team of big horses, a gray and a bay, and the loads of cord-wood he hauled to St. Louis were so big that they are still talked of by the old settlers. In the summer of 1854 Grant started his log cabin, and all his neighbors turned in to help him build his house. American Log House The American log house differs from the Canadian log house principally in the shape of the roof. Our old settlers made steep gambrel roofs to shed the rain. "Gambrel! Gambrel? Let me beg You'll look at a horse's hinder leg; First great angle above the hoof, That's the gambrel, hence the gambrel roof." The Canadians put very flat roofs on their log cabins, usually composed of logs laid over the rafters, making them strong enough to support the heavy weight of snow. The American log cabins, as a rule, are built in a milder climate, and the flat sod roof is peculiar to our Northern boundary and the hot, arid parts of our country. We build the chimneys outside of our log cabins because, as the old settlers would say, "thar's more room out thar" (see Figs. 271, 273). One-Pen Cabin Fig. 229 is a one-pen cabin. To build it we first snake our logs to a skid near the site of our proposed cabin (Fig. 167), from which we can roll our logs to our house as we need them. Lay out the corners and square them (Fig. 180); notch the logs with a rounded or U-shaped notch (Fig. 165). Remember that all the logs should be two or three feet longer than the walls of the proposed building, but the notches must be the same distance apart in order to make even walls. The protruding ends of the logs may be allowed to stick out as they happen to come, no matter how irregular they may be, until the cabin is erected; then with a two-handed saw and a boy at each end they can be trimmed off evenly, thus giving a neat finish to the house. Fig. 229. Fig. 230. Fig. 231. Fig. 232. Fig. 233. Fig. 234. [Illustration: Hints and suggestions in cabin construction.] Sills The largest, straightest, and best logs should be saved for sills or foundations. If you are building a "mudsill," that is, a building upon the ground itself, the sill logs will be subject to dampness which will cause them to rot unless they are protected by some wood preservative. Wood Preservative If the logs are painted with two or three coats of creosote before they are laid upon the ground, it will protect them for an indefinite time and prevent decay. Hugh P. Baker, dean of the New York State College of Forestry, writes me that-- two or three applications of warm oil with a brush will be very helpful and will probably be all that the ordinary man can do. Creosote is the best preservative because of its penetrating power and the way it acts upon the fibres of wood, and in the end is cheaper than a good many other things which have been used to preserve timber. In fact, various forms of creosote are best-known preservers of organic matter. There is no advantage in using charcoal at all and I presume suggestions have been made for using it because we know that charred wood is more durable. Linseed-oil is good; ordinary white-lead paint will be better, but neither of them is as effective as creosote, and both are more expensive. You will find that carbolineum and other patent preparations are recommended very highly; they are good but expensive and the difference in price between these patent preparations and ordinary creosote is much larger than is justified by their increased value. Creosote can be procured in large or small quantities from a number of concerns. I think we have been getting it for about ten dollars per barrel of fifty or fifty-three gallons. Creosote may be purchased in large or small quantities from various manufacturing companies, such as the Barret Manufacturing Company, 17 Battery Place, New York City, and the Chattfield Manufacturing Company, Carthage, O., handle it in large quantities. Openings Build the pen as if it were to have no openings, either doors, windows, or fireplaces. When you reach the point where the top of the door, window, or fireplace is to be (Fig. 229) saw out a section of the log to mark the place and admit a saw when it is desired to finish the opening as shown in the diagram and continue building until you have enough logs in place to tack on cleats like those shown in Figs. 229, 230, and 231, after which the openings may be sawed out. The cleats will hold the ends of the logs in place until the boards _U_ (Fig. 232) for the door-jambs, window-frames, or the framework over the fireplace can be nailed to the ends of the logs and thus hold them permanently in place. If your house is a "mudsill," wet the floor until it becomes spongy, then with the butt end of a log ram the dirt down hard until you have an even, hard floor--such a floor as some of the greatest men of this nation first crept over when they were babies. But if you want a board floor, you must necessarily have floor-joists; these are easily made of milled lumber or you may use the rustic material of which your house is built and select some straight logs for your joists. Of course, these joists must have an even top surface, which may be made by flattening the logs by scoring and hewing them as illustrated by Figs. 123, 124, and 125 and previously described. It will then be necessary to cut the ends of the joist square and smaller than the rest of the log (Fig. _A_, 229); the square ends must be made to fit easily into the notches made in the sill logs (_B_, Fig. 229) so that they will all be even and ready for the flooring (_C_, Fig. 229). For a house ten feet wide the joists should be half a foot in diameter, that is, half a foot through from one side to the other; for larger spans use larger logs for the joists. Foundation If your house is not a "mudsill" you may rest your sill logs upon posts or stone piles; in either case, in the Northern States, they should extend three feet below the ground, so as to be below frost-line and prevent the upheaval of the spring thaw from throwing your house "out of plumb." Roofing All the old-time log cabins were roofed with shakes, splits, clapboards, or hand-rived shingles as already described and illustrated by Figs. 126, 128, 129, and 130; but to-day they are usually shingled with the machine-sawed shingle of commerce. You may, however, cover the roof with planks as shown by Fig. 233 or with bark weighted down with poles as shown by Fig. 234. In covering it with board or plank nail the latter on as you would on a floor, then lay another course of boards over the cracks which show between the boards on the first course. Gables The gable ends of the cabin should be built up of logs with the rafters of the roof running between the logs as they are in Figs. 229 and 233, but the roof may be built, as it frequently is nowadays, of mill lumber, in which case it may be framed as shown by Figs. 49, 51, and the gable end above the logs filled in with upright poles as shown in Figs. 173 and 247, or planked up as shown in the Southern saddle-bag (Fig. 241), or the ends may be boarded up and covered with tar paper as shown in Fig. 248, or the gable end may be shingled with ordinary shingles (Fig. 79). Steep Roof Remember that the steeper the roof is the longer the shingles will last, because the water will run off readily and quickly on a steep surface and the shingles have an opportunity to dry quickly; besides which the snow slides off a steep roof and the driving rains do not beat under the shingles. If you are using milled lumber for the roof, erect the rafters at the gable end first, with the ridge board as shown in Fig. 263 and in greater detail in Fig. 49. Put the other rafters two or three feet apart. Let your roof overhang the walls by at least seven or eight inches so as to keep the drip from the rain free of the wall. It is much easier for the architect to draw a log house than it is for a builder to erect one, for the simple reason that the draughtsman can make his logs as straight as he chooses, also that he can put the uneven places where they fit best; but except in well-forested countries the tree trunks do not grow as straight as the logs in my pictures and you must pick out the logs which will fit together. Run them alternately butt and head; that is, if you put the thick end of the log at the right-hand end of your house, with the small end at the left, put the next log with the small end at the right and thick end at the left; otherwise, if all the thick ends are put at one side and the small ends at the other, your house will be taller at one end than at the other as is the case with some of our previous shacks and camps (Figs. 190, 191, and 192) which are purposely built that way. If it is planned to have glass window lights, make your window openings of the proper size to fit the window-frames which come with the sashes from the factory. In any case, if the cabin is to be left unoccupied you should have heavy shutters to fit in the window opening so as to keep out trespassers. Chinking If your logs are uneven and leave large spaces between them, they may be chinked up by filling the spaces with mud plaster or cement, and then forcing in quartered pieces of small logs and nailing them or spiking them in position. If your logs are straight spruce logs and fit snugly, the cracks may be calked up with swamp moss (Sphagnum), or like a boat, with oakum, or the larger spaces may be filled with flat stones and covered with mud. This mud will last from one to seven or eight years; I have some on my own log cabin that has been there even a longer time. XXXVII A HUNTER'S OR FISHERMAN'S CABIN IN all the hilly and mountainous States there are tracts of forest lands and waste lands of no use to the farmer and of no use to settlers, but such places offer ideal spots for summer camps for boys and naturalists, for fishermen and sportsmen, and here they may erect their cabins (_see Frontispiece_) and enjoy themselves in a healthy, natural manner. These cabins will vary according to the wants of the owners, according to the material at hand and the land upon which they are built. By extending the rafters of the roof, the latter may be extended (_see Frontispiece_) to protect the front and make a sort of piazza which may be floored with puncheons. The logs forming the sides of the house may be allowed to extend so as to make a wall or fence, as they do on the right-hand side of the Frontispiece, thus preventing the danger of falling over the cliff upon which this cabin is perched and receiving injury or an unlooked-for ducking in the lake. They may also be extended as they are on the left, to make a shield behind which a wood-yard is concealed, or to protect an enclosure for the storage of the larger camp utensils. In fact, this drawing is made as a suggestion and not to be copied exactly, because every spot differs from every other spot, and one wants to make one's house conform to the requirements of its location; for instance, the logs upon the right-hand side might be allowed to extend all the way up to the roof, as they do at the bottom, and thus make a cosey corner protected from the wind and storm. The windows in such a cabin may be made very small, for all work is supposed to be done outdoors, and when more light is needed on the inside the door may be left open. In a black-fly country or a mosquito country, however, when you are out of reach of screen doors, mosquito-netting may be tacked over the windows and a portière of mosquito-netting over the doorway. XXXVIII HOW TO MAKE A WYOMING OLEBO, A HOKO RIVER OLEBO, A SHAKE CABIN, A CANADIAN MOSSBACK, AND A TWO-PEN OR SOUTHERN SADDLE-BAG HOUSE ONE of the charms of a log-cabin building is the many possibilities of novelties suggested by the logs themselves. In the hunter's cabin (_see Frontispiece_) we have seen how the ends of the logs were allowed to stick out in front and form a rail for the front stoop; the builders of the olebos have followed this idea still further. The Wyoming Olebo In Fig. 236 we see that the side walls of the pen are allowed to extend on each side so as to enclose a roofed-over open-air room, or, if you choose to so call it, a front porch, veranda, stoop, piazza, or gallery, according to the section of the country in which you live. So as to better understand this cabin the plan is drawn in perspective, with the cabin above and made to appear as if some one had lifted the cabin to show the ground-floor plan underneath. The olebo roof is built upon the same plan as the Kanuck (Fig. 244), with this exception, that in Fig. 244 the rooftree or ridge-log is supported by cross logs which are a continuation of the side of the house (_A_, _A_, Figs. 242, 244, and 245), but in the olebo the ridge pole or log is supported by uprights (Figs. 236 and 237). To build the olebo lay the two side sill logs first (_A_, _B_, and _C_, _D_, Fig. 236), then the two end logs _E_, _F_, and _D_, _B_ and proceed to build the cabin as already described, allowing the irregular ends of the logs to extend beyond the cabin until the pen is completed and all is ready for the roof, after which the protruding ends of the logs _excepting the two top ones_ may be sawed off to suit the taste and convenience of the builder. The olebo may be made of any size that the logs will permit and one's taste dictate. After the walls are built, erect the log columns at _A_ and _C_ (Fig. 236), cut their tops wedge shape to fit in notches in the ends of the projecting side-plates (Fig. 144, _A_ and _B_); next lay the end plate (_G_, Fig. 236) over the two top logs on the sides of your house which correspond to the side-plates of an ordinary house. The end plate _G_ is notched to fit on top of the side-plates, and the tops of the side-plates have been scored and hewn and flattened, thus making a General Putnam joint like the one shown above (_G_, Fig. 236); but when the ends of the side logs of the cabin were trimmed off the side-plates or top side logs were allowed to protrude a foot or more beyond the others; this was to give room for the supporting upright log columns at _A_ and _C_ (see view of cabin, Fig. 236 and the front view, Fig. 237). _H_ and _J_ (Fig. 237) are two more upright columns supporting the end plate which, in turn, supports the short uprights upon which the two purlins _L_ and _M_ rest; the other purlins _K_ and _N_ rest directly upon the end plate (Fig. 237). The rear end of the cabin can have the gable logged up as the front of the house is in Fig. 240, or filled in with uprights as in Fig. 247. The roof of the olebo is composed of logs, but if one is building an olebo where it will not be subjected during the winter to a great weight of snow, one may make the roof of any material handy. Fig. 236. Fig. 237. Fig. 238. Fig. 239. Fig. 240. Fig. 241. [Illustration: Some native American log houses.] Hoko River Olebo The Hoko River olebo has logs only up to the ceiling of the first story (Fig. 238), or the half story as the case may be; this part, as you see, is covered with shakes previously illustrated and described (Figs. 127, 128, 129, and 130). The logs supporting the front of the second story serve their purpose as pillars or supports only during the winter-time, when the heavy load of snow might break off the unsupported front of the olebo. In the summer-time they are taken away and set to one side, leaving the overhang unsupported in front. The shakes on the side are put on the same as shingles, overlapping each other and breaking joints as shown in the illustration. They are nailed to the side poles, the ends of which you may see protruding in the sketch (Fig. 238). The Mossback Cabin In the north country, where the lumbermen are at work, the farmers or settlers are looked down upon by the lumberjacks much in the same manner as the civilians in a military government are looked down upon by the soldiers, and hence the lumberjacks have, in derision, dubbed the settlers mossbacks. Mossback Fig. 239 shows a mossback's house or cabin in the lake lands of Canada. The same type of house I have seen in northern Michigan. This one is a two-pen house, but the second pen is made like the front to the olebo, by allowing the logs of the walls of the house itself to extend sufficient distance beyond to make another room, pen, or division. In this particular case the settler has put a shed roof of boards upon the division, but the main roof is made of logs in the form of tiles. In Canada these are called _les auges_ (pronounced [=o]ge), a name given to them by the French settlers. The back of this house has a steeper roof than the front, which roof, as you see, extends above the ends of _les auges_ to keep the rain from beating in at the ends of the wooden troughs. Above the logs on the front side of the small room, pen, or addition the front is covered with shakes. Fig. 240 shows a cabin in the Olympic mountains, but it is only the ordinary American log cabin with a shake roof and no windows. A cooking-stove inside answers for heating apparatus and the stovepipe protrudes above the roof. The Southern Saddle-Bag or Two-Pen Cabin Now we come to the most delightful of all forms of a log house. The one shown in Fig. 241 is a very simple one, such as might be built by any group of boys, but I have lived in such houses down South that were very much more elaborate. Frequently they have a second story which extends like the roof over the open gallery between the pens; the chimneys are at the gable ends, that is, on the outside of the house, and since we will have quite a space devoted to fireplaces and chimneys, it is only necessary to say here that in many portions of the South the fireplaces, while broad, are often quite shallow and not nearly so deep as some found in the old houses on Long Island, in New York, and the Eastern States. The open gallery makes a delightful, cool lounging place, also a place for the ladies to sit and sew, and serves as an open-air dining-room during the warm weather; this sort of house is inappropriate and ill fitted for the climate which produced the olebo, the mossback, and the Kanuck, but exactly suited for our Southern States and very pleasant even as far north as Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. I have lived in one part of every summer for the last twenty-two years in the mountains of northern Pennsylvania. The saddle-bag may be built by boys with the two rooms ten by ten and a gallery six feet wide, or the two rooms six by six and a gallery five feet wide; the plan may be seen on the sketch below the house (Fig. 241). Where you only expect to use the house in the summer months, a two-pen or saddle-bag can be used with comfort even in the Northern States, but in the winter-time in such States as Michigan and part of New York, the gallery would be filled up with drifting snow. XXXIX NATIVE NAMES FOR THE PARTS OF A KANUCK LOG CABIN, AND HOW TO BUILD ONE IF the writer forgets himself once in a while and uses words not familiar to his boy readers, he hopes they will forgive him and put all such slips down as the result of leaving boys' company once in a while and associating with men. The reader knows that men dearly love big, ungainly words and that just as soon as boys do something worth while the men get busy hunting up some top-heavy name for it. When one is talking of foreign things, however, it is well to give the foreign names for those things, and, since the next house to be described is not a real American one but a native of Canada, the Canadian names are given for its parts. While in northern Quebec, making notes for the Kanuck, the writer enlisted the interest of a fellow member of the Camp-Fire Club of America, Doctor Alexander Lambert, and through him secured the names of all parts of the Canadian shack. The author is not a French-Canadian, and, although, like most of his readers, he studied French at school, what he learned of that great language is now securely locked up in one of the safe-deposit vaults of his brain and the key lost. He owns up to his ignorance because he is a scout and would not try to deceive his readers, also because if the reader's knowledge of French enables him to find some error, the writer can sidestep the mistake and say, "'Tain't mine." But, joking aside, these names are the ones used in the Province of Quebec and are here given not because they are good French but because they are the names used by the builders among the natives known by the Indians as _les habitants_ Local Names of Parts of Cabin spruce épinette balsam sapin to chop boucher, Figs. 113 and 122 to cut couper logs les bois or les billots, _A_, _A_, _A_, Figs. 242, 245, also 119, 126, etc. square carré door porte, Figs. 242, 243 window châssis, Fig. 243 window-glass les vitres, 242 the joist on which the floor is laid les traverses, Fig. 49, _B_, _B_, _B_, _B_, Fig. 244 the floor itself plancher the purlins, that is, the two big logs used to support the roof les poudres, _C_, _C_, Fig. 244 the roof couverture, Fig. 242 bark écorce birch bark bouleau the poles put on a birch-bark roof to keep the bark flat les péches, Figs. 41, 234, 242 the hollow half-logs sometimes used like tiling on a roof les auges, Fig. 246 piazza, porch, front stoop, veranda galerie, Figs. 236, 237, and 241 The only thing that needs explanation is the squaring of the round logs of the cabin. For instance, instead of leaving the logs absolutely round and untouched inside the camp, after the logs are placed, they are squared off so as to leave a flat surface (Fig. 125). They call this the _carréage_. I do not know whether this is a local name or whether it is an expression peculiar to that Quebec section of Canada or whether it is simply a corruption of better French. It is derived from the word _carrer_, to square. Fig. 242. Fig. 243. Fig. 244. Fig. 245. Fig. 246. Fig. 247. Fig. 248. Fig. 249. [Illustration: Showing construction of the common Canadian log house.] The perspective drawings (Figs. 242 and 243) show views of the cabin we call the Kanuck. The pen is built exactly as it is built in the houses already described. The windows are placed where the builder desires, as is also the doorway, but when the side-plate logs, that is Les Traverses or top side logs, are put in place, then the traverses logs (_B_, _B_, _B_, _B_, Fig. 244) are laid across the pen from one side-plate to the other, their ends resting on top of the side-plates over the traverses logs, the two purlins Les Poudres (_C_, _C_, Fig. 244) are notched and fitted, and over their ends the two pieces _D_, _D_ are fitted, and, resting on the centres of the _D_ logs, the ridge log (_E_, Fig. 244) is placed. Couverture The roof is made of small logs flattened on the under-side or left in their rounded form (Fig. 242) and laid from the ridge logs down, extending over the eaves six or more inches. Les Péches The roof logs are then held in place by poles pegged with wooden pegs to the roof (_F_, _G_, Fig. 242). Roofing Material The roof is now covered with a thick layer of browse, hay, straw, dry leaves, or dry grass, and on top of this moist blue clay, yellow clay, hard-pan, or simple mud is spread and trampled down hard, forcing the thatch underneath into all the cracks and crannies and forming a firm covering of clay several inches thick. Fireplace The fireplace and chimney may be built inside or outside the cabin, or the house may be heated by a stove and the stovepipe allowed to protrude through a hole in the roof large enough to separate the pipe a safe distance from the wood and straw and amply protected by a piece of sheet iron or tin. Then, after you have stored your _butin_ (luggage), you can sit and sing: You may pull the _sourdine_ out You may push the _rabat-joie_ in But the _boucan_ goes up the _cheminée_ just the same Just the same, just the same, But the _boucan_ goes up the _cheminée_ just the same. When "l'habitant" hears you sing this verse he will not know what your song is about, but he will slap you on the back, laugh, and call you _Bon Homme chez nous_, but do not get mad at this; it is a compliment and not a bad name. Clay Roof A clay roof should be as flat as possible with only pitch enough to shed the water; a shingle roof should have a rise of at least one foot high to four feet wide and a thatched roof should have a rise of 45°, that is, the rise of a line drawn from corner to corner of a square. Fig. 247 shows a gable filled with upright logs and Fig. 248 shows a tar paper roof and a gable covered with tar paper. Since Kanucks are cold-climate houses, they frequently have novel means of keeping them warm; one way that I have frequently seen used is to surround them with a log fence shown in Fig. 249, and pack the space between with stable manure or dirt and rotten leaves. XL HOW TO MAKE A POLE HOUSE AND HOW TO MAKE A UNIQUE BUT THOROUGHLY AMERICAN TOTEM LOG HOUSE A POLE house is a log house with the logs set upright. We call it a pole house because, usually, the logs are smaller than those used for a log house. The pole house (Fig. 250) is built in the manner shown by Figs. 171, 172, and 173, but in the present instance the ridge-pole is a log which is allowed to extend some distance beyond the house both in front and rear, and the front end of the ridge-pole is carved in the shape of a grotesque or comical animal's head like those we see on totem-poles. The roof is made of shakes (see Figs. 126 to 130) and the shakes are held in place by poles pegged onto the roof in much the same manner as we have described and called _les péches_ for the Kanuck. This pole cabin may have an old-fashioned Dutch door which will add to its quaintness and may have but one room which will answer the many purposes of a living-room, sleeping-room, and dining-room. A lean-to at the back can be used for a kitchen. American Totem Log House But if you really want something unique, build a log house on the general plan shown by Figs. 251 and 252; then carve the ends of all the extending logs to represent the heads of reptiles, beasts, or birds; also carve the posts which support the end logs on the front gallery, porch, or veranda in the form of totem-poles. You may add further to the quaint effect by placing small totem-posts where your steps begin on the walk (Fig. 253) and adding a tall totem-pole (Fig. 255) for your family totem or the totem of your clan. Fig. 252 shows how to arrange and cut your logs for the pens. The dining-room is supposed to be behind the half partition next to the kitchen; the other half of this room being open, with the front room, it makes a large living-room. The stairs lead up to the sleeping-rooms overhead; the latter are made by dividing the space with partitions to suit your convenience. Before Building Take your jack-knife and a number of little sticks to represent the logs of your cabin; call an inch a foot or a half inch a foot as will suit your convenience and measure all the sticks on this scale, using inches or parts of inches for feet. Then sit down on the ground or on the floor and experiment in building a toy house or miniature model until you make one which is satisfactory. Next glue the little logs of the pen together; but make the roof so that it may be taken off and put on like the lid to a box; keep your model to use in place of an architect's drawing; the backwoods workmen will understand it better than they will a set of plans and sections on paper. Fig. 251 is a very simple plan and only put here as a suggestion. You can put the kitchen at the back of the house instead of on one side of it or make any changes which suit your fancy; the pen of the house may be ten by twelve or twenty by thirty feet, a camp or a dwelling; the main point is to finish your house up with totems as shown by Fig. 253, and then tell the other fellows where you got the idea. Fig. 250. Fig. 251. Fig. 252. Fig. 253. Fig. 254. Fig. 255. [Illustration: A totem motif. An artistic and novel treatment for a log house.] Peeled Logs For any structure which is intended to be permanent never use the logs with bark on them; use _peeled_ logs. When your house is finished it may look very fresh and new without bark, but one season of exposure to the weather will tone it down so that it will be sufficiently rustic to please your fancy, but if you leave the bark on the logs, a few seasons will rot your house down, making it _too_ rustic to suit any one's fancy. Lay up the pen of this house as already described and illustrated by Figs. 229, 233, etc., and when the sides and front walls have reached the desired height, frame your roof after the manner shown by Fig. 49 or any of the other methods described which may suit your fancy or convenience, but in this case we use the Susitna form for the end plates, which are made by first severing the root of a tree and leaving an elbow or bend at the end of the trunk (Fig. 264). This is flattened by scoring and hewing as is described and illustrated under the heading of the Susitna house. The elbows at the terminals of the end plate are carved to represent grotesque heads (Fig. 253). The house when built is something like the Wyoming olebo (Fig. 236), but with the difference which will appear after careful inspection of the diagram. The Wyoming olebo is a one-story house; this is a two-story house. The Wyoming olebo has a roof built upon a modified plan of a Kanuck; this roof is built on the American log-cabin plan, with the logs continued up to the top of the gable, as are those in the Olympic (Fig. 240). But the present house is supposed to be _very carefully_ built; to be sure, it is made of rude material but handled in a very neat and workmanlike manner. Great care must be used in notching and joining the logs, and only the straightest logs which can be had should be used for the walls of the house. The piazza may need some additional supports if there is a wide front to the house, but with a narrow front half, log puncheons will be sufficiently stiff to support themselves. Totems The most difficult part about these descriptions, for the writer, is where he attempts to tell you how to make your totems; but remember that a totem, in order to have a _real_ totem look, must be very crude and amateurish, a quality that the reader should be able to give it without much instruction. The next important thing is that when you make one side of a head, be it a snake's, a man's, a beast's, or a bird's, make the other side like it. Do not make the head lopsided; make both sides of the same proportions. Flatten the sides of the end of the log enough to give you a smooth surface, then sketch the profile on each side of the log with charcoal or chalk, carve out the head with a chisel, drawing-knife, and jack-knife, and gouge until you have fashioned it into the shape desired. In order to do this the end of the log should be free from the ground and a convenient distance above it. The carving is best done after the house is practically finished; but the two end plates had better be carved before they are hoisted into place. Totem-Poles When you carve out the totem-poles (Fig. 256 or 262), the log had better be put on an elongated sawbuck arrangement which will hold it free from the ground and allow one to turn it over as the work may require. Fig. 259 represents a peeled log. On this log one may sketch, with chalk, the various figures here represented, then begin by notching the log (Fig. 258) according to the notches which are necessary to carve out the totem. Figs. 260, 261, and 262 show different views of the same totem figures. Fig. 257 shows how to make a variation of the totem-pole. Paint your totem heads and figures red, blue, and yellow, and to suit your fancy; the more startling they are the better will they imitate the Indian totems. The weather will eventually tone them down to the harmonious colors of a Turkish rug. In "The Boy Pioneers" I have told how to make various other forms of totems, all of which have since been built by boys and men in different parts of the country. Mr. Stewart Edward White, a member of the Camp-Fire Club of America, woodsman, plainsman, mountaineer, and African hunter and explorer, built himself a totem in the form of a huge bird twelve feet high from the plans published in "The Boy Pioneers," and I anticipate no great difficulty will be encountered by those who try to totemize a log cabin after the manner shown by Fig. 258. It will not, however, be a small boy's work, but the small boys who started at the beginning of this book are older and more experienced now, and, even if they cannot handle the big logs themselves, they are perfectly competent to teach their daddies and uncles and their big brothers how to do it, so they may act as boss builders and architects and let the older men do the heavy work. But however you proceed to build this house, when it is finished you will have a typically native building, and at the same time different from all others, as quaint as any bungling bungalow, and in better taste, because it will fit in the landscape and become part of it and look as if it _belonged there_, in place of appearing as if it had been blown by a tornado from some box factory and deposited in an unsuitable landscape. Fig. 256. Fig. 257. Fig. 258. Fig. 259. Fig. 260. Fig. 261. Fig. 262. [Illustration: Totem-poles and how to make them.] You must understand by this that unsuitable refers to the fact that a bungalow _does not_ belong in the American landscape, although many of the cottages and shacks, miscalled bungalows, may be thoroughly American and appropriate to the American surroundings despite the exotic name by which some people humble them. XLI HOW TO BUILD A SUSITNA LOG CABIN AND HOW TO CUT TREES FOR THE END PLATES STANDING on a hill overlooking the salt meadows at Hunter's Point, L. I., there was an old farmhouse the roof of which projected over both sides of the house four or five feet. The hill on which it stood has been cut away, the meadows which it overlooked have been filled up with the dirt from the hill, and only a surveyor with his transit and the old property-lines map before him could ever find the former location of this house, but it is somewhere among the tracks of the Long Island Railroad. Opposite the house, on the other side of the railroad track, in the section known as Dutch Kills of Long Island City, two other houses of the same style of architecture stood; they had double doors--that is, doors which were cut in two half-way up so that you might open the top or bottom half or both halves to suit your fancy. The upper panels of these doors had two drop-lights of glass set in on the bias, and between them, half-way down the upper half, was a great brass knocker with a grip big enough to accommodate both hands in case you really wanted to make a noise. There was another house of this same description in the outskirts of Hoboken, and I often wondered what the origin of that peculiar roof might be. I found this type of house as far north toward the Hudson Bay as the settlements go, and still farther north the Susitna house explains the origin of the overhanging eaves (Fig. 268). Of course the Susitna, as here drawn, is not exactly the same as that built by the natives on the Susitna River, but the end plates (Fig. 263) are the same as those used in the primitive houses of the Northwest. How to Cut the Tree Fig. 264 shows a standing fir-tree and also shows what cuts to make in order to get the right-shaped log for an end plate. Fig. 265 shows the method of scoring and hewing necessary in order to flatten the end of the log as it is in Fig. 266. Fig. 267 shows the style in which the natives roof their Susitnas with logs. The elbows at the end of the plates (Fig. 266) serve to keep the logs of the roof (Fig. 267) from rolling off, but the Susitna log cabin which we are building is expected to have a roof (Fig. 268) of thatch or a roof of shingles, because we have passed the rude shacks, sheds, and shelters used for camps and are now building real houses in which we may live. The Susitna may be built of round logs or of flattened logs (_le carréage_), in which case we can use the General Putnam square notch (Fig. 263) for joining the ends of our logs. In raising the roof, erect the ridge-pole first. The ridge-pole may be set up on two uprights to which it is temporarily nailed, and the upright props may be held in place by the two diagonal props or braces, as shown in Fig. 263. If the logs are squared, cut a small bird's-mouth notch in the rafter where it extends over the side-plate logs of the pen and bevel the top end of your gable rafters to fit against the ridge-pole as in the diagrams. The other rafters are now easily put in place, but if the logs are round you must notch the rafters and side-plates as shown by the diagram between Figs. 263 and 267; the dotted lines show where the rafter and the logs come together. Nail your rafters to your ridge-pole and fasten them to the side-plate with wooden pegs or spikes. The ridge-pole may be allowed to extend, as in Fig. 268, on each side of the cabin or the elbows (Fig. 266) may be attached to each end of the ridge-pole with noses turned up and painted or carved into a fanciful head as in Fig. 268. If the roof is to be shingled, collect a lot of poles about four inches in diameter, flatten them on both sides, and nail them to the rafters not more than two inches apart, allowing the ends of the sticks to extend beyond the walls of the house at least six inches. Fig. 263. Fig. 264. Fig. 265. Fig. 266. Fig. 267. Fig. 268. [Illustration: The Susitna log house.] If you desire to make your own shingles, saw up a hemlock, pine, or spruce log into billets of one foot four inches long, then with a froe and a mall (Fig. 179) split the shingles from the billets of wood, or use a broadaxe for the same purpose. Broadaxes are dangerous weapons in the hands of an amateur, but the writer split shingles with a broadaxe upon the shores of Lake Erie when he was but seven years old and, as near as he can count, he still has ten toes and ten fingers. If you intend to thatch the roof you need not flatten the poles which you fasten across the rafters, because the thatch will hide all unevenness of the underpinning. The poles may be laid at right angles to the rafters between six and eight inches apart and the roof thatched as described and illustrated by Fig. 66. The Susitna form of house is the one from which the old Long Island farmhouses were evolved, although the old Long Islanders copied theirs from the homes they left in Holland, but we must remember that even the effete civilization of Europe once had a backwoods country a long, long time ago, and then they built their houses from the timbers hewn in the forests as our own ancestors did in this country; consequently, many of the characteristics of present-day houses which seem to us useless and unnecessary are survivals of the necessary characteristics of houses made of crude material. XLII HOW TO MAKE A FIREPLACE AND CHIMNEY FOR A SIMPLE LOG CABIN FIG. 269 shows a simple form of fireplace which is practically the granddaddy of all the other fireplaces. It consists of three walls for windbreaks, laid up in stone or sod against some stakes driven in the ground for the purpose of supporting them. The four-cornered stakes are notched or forked and small logs are laid horizontally in these forks and on top of this a pyramidal form of a log pen is built of small logs and billets, and this answers the purpose of a chimney. This style of fireplace is adapted to use in camps and rude shacks like those shown by Figs. 187, 189, 191, and 192; also for the most primitive log cabins, but when we make a real log house we usually plan to have a more elaborate or more finished fireplace and chimney. The ground-plan of Fig. 269 is shown by Fig. 270. Mud Hearth Here you see there is a mud hearth, a wall of clay plastered over the stones of the fireplace. This will prevent the fire from cracking and chipping the stones, but clay is not absolutely necessary in this fireplace. When, however, you build the walls of your fireplace of logs and your chimney of sticks the clay _is_ necessary to prevent the fire from igniting the woodwork and consuming it. For a log-framed fireplace, make a large opening in the wall of your house and against the ends of the logs where you sawed out the opening, erect jamb pieces of planks two or three inches thick running up to the log over the fireplace and spiked to the round ends of the logs (see plan, Fig. 272). Next, lay your foundation of sill logs on the fireplace, first two side logs and then a back log, neatly notched so as to look like the logs in the walls of the cabin. Build your fireplace walls as shown by Fig. 271, after which take your mud or clay and make the hearth by hammering the clay down hard until you have a firm, smooth foundation. The front hearth may be made, as shown in the diagram, of stones of any size from pebbles to flagstones, with the surfaces levelled by sinking the under-part down into the clay until a uniform level is reached on top. The fireplace may be built with bricks of moist clay and wet clay used for mortar. Make the clay walls of the fireplace at least one foot thick and pack it down hard and tight as you build it. If you choose you may make a temporary inside wall of plank as they do when they make cement walls, and then between the temporary board wall and the logs put in your moist clay and ram it down hard until the top of the fireplace is reached, after which the boards may be removed and the inside of the fireplace smoothed off by wiping it with a wet cloth. Stick Chimney After the walls of logs and clay are built to top of the fireplace proper, split some sticks and make them about one inch wide by one and one half inch thick, or use the round sticks in the form in which they grow, but peel off the bark to render them less combustible; then lay them up as shown by Fig. 261, log-cabin style. With the chimney we have four sides to the wall in place of three sides as in the fireplace. The logs of the fireplace, where they run next to the cabin, may have to be chinked up so as to keep them level, but the chimney should be built level as it has four sides to balance it. Leave a space between the chimney and the outside wall and plaster the sticks thickly with clay upon the outside and much thicker with clay upon the inside, as shown by Fig. 271 _A_, which is supposed to be a section of the chimney. Fig. 269. Fig. 270. Fig. 271. Fig. 271A. Fig. 272. Fig. 273. [Illustration: Detail for fireplaces and flues.] Durability All through the mountains of East Tennessee and Kentucky I have seen these stick chimneys, some of them many, many years old. In these mountain countries the fireplaces are lined with stones, but in Illinois, in the olden times, stones were scarce and mud was plenty and the fireplaces were made like those just described and illustrated by Fig. 272. The stone chimney is an advance and improvement upon the log chimney, but I doubt if it requires any more skill to build. Chimney Foundation Dig your foundation for your fireplace and chimney at least three feet deep; then fill the hole up with small cobblestones or broken bluestone until you have reached nearly the level of the ground; upon this you can begin to lay your hearth and chimney foundation. If you fail to dig this foundation the frost will work the ground under your chimney and the chimney will work with the ground, causing it either to upset or to tilt to one side or the other and spoil the looks of your house, even if it does not put your fireplace out of commission. Stone Chimney In laying up the stones for your chimney, remember that it makes no difference how rough and uneven it is upon the outside. The more uneven the outside is the more picturesque it will appear, but the smoother and more even the inside is the less will it collect soot and the less will be the danger of chimney fires. Lay your stones in mortar or cement. See that each stone fits firmly in the bed and does not rock and that it breaks joints with the other stone below it. By breaking joints I mean that the crack between the two stones on the upper tier should fit over the middle of the stone on the lower tier; this, with the aid of the cement, locks the stones and prevents any accidental cracks which may open from extending any further than the two stones between which it started. If, however, you do not break joints, a crack might run from the top to the bottom of the chimney causing it to fall apart. Above the fireplace make four walls to your chimney, as you did with your stick chimney (Fig. 271), and let the top of the chimney extend above the roof at least three feet; this will not only help the draught but it will also lessen the danger of fire. XLIII HEARTHSTONES AND FIREPLACES IN erecting the fireplace for your cabin the stone work should extend into the cabin itself, thus protecting the ends of the logs from the fire. The stone over the top of the fireplace (_A_, _B_, Fig. 274) rests upon two iron bars; these iron bars are necessary for safety because, although the stone _A_, _B_ may bridge the fireplace successfully, the settling of the chimney or the heat of the fire is liable to crack the stone, in which case, unless it is supported by two flat iron bars, it will fall down and wreck your fireplace. The stone _A_, _B_ in Fig. 275, has been cracked for fifteen years but, as it rests upon the flat iron bars beneath, the crack does no harm. Fig. 274. Fig. 275. [Illustration: Fireplace in author's cabin, and suggestion for stone and wood mantel.] In Fig. 274 (the ends of the fireplace) the two wing walls of it are built up inside the cabin to support a plank for a mantelpiece. Another plank _C_, _D_ is nailed under the mantelpiece against the log before the stone work is built up. This is only for the purpose of giving a finish to your mantelpiece. The hearth in Fig. 274 is made of odd bits of flat stones laid in cement, but the hearth in Fig. 275 is one big slab of bluestone just as it came from the quarry, and the fireplace in Fig. 275 is lined with fire-brick. The two three-legged stools which you see on each side were made by the woodsmen who built the cabin to use in their camp while the cabin was being erected. The stools have occupied the position of honor on each side of the fireplace now for twenty-seven years. The mantelpiece in this drawing is made of puncheons with the rounded side out on the two supports and the flat side against the wall; of course, for the mantel itself, the rounded side must be down and the flat side up. This fireplace has been used for cooking purposes and the crane is still hanging over the flames, while up over the mantel you may see, roughly indicated, a wrought-iron broiler, a toaster, and a brazier. The flat shovel hanging to the left of the fireplace is what is known as a "peal," used in olden times to slip under the pies or cakes in the old-fashioned ovens in order to remove them without burning one's fingers. XLIV MORE HEARTHS AND FIREPLACES SOMETIMES it is desired to have a fireplace in the middle of the room. Personally, such a fireplace does not appeal to me, but there are other people who like the novelty of such a fireplace, and Fig. 276 shows one constructed of rough stones. The fireplace is high so that one tending it does not have to stoop and get a backache. The foundation should be built in the ground underneath the cabin and up through the floor. A flat stone covers the top of the fireplace, as in the other drawings. Fig. 277 shows a fireplace with a puncheon support for a plank mantel. Fig. 276. Fig. 277. Fig. 278. Fig. 279. Fig. 280. [Illustration: Fireplace and mantel of half logs. Also centre fireplaces for cabin.] A Plank Mantel _A_ and _B_ are two half logs, or puncheons, which run from the floor to the ceiling on each side of the fireplace. _S_, _S_, _S_ are the logs of the cabin walls. _C_ is the puncheon supporting the mantel and _D_ is the mantel. Fig. 279 shows a section or a view of the mantel looking down on it from the top, a topographical view of it. Fig. 278 is the same sort of a view showing the puncheon _A_ at the other end of the mantel before the mantel is put in place between the two puncheons _A_ and _B_. In Fig. 279 the reader may see that it will be necessary to cut the corners out of the mantel-board in order to fit it around the puncheons _A_ and _B_; also, since _A_ and _B_ have rounded surfaces, it will be necessary to so bevel the ends of the puncheon (_C_, Fig. 277) that they will fit on the rounded surfaces of _A_ and _B_. Fig. 280 shows the end of _C_ bevelled in a perspective view, and also a profile view of it, with the puncheon _A_ indicating the manner in which _C_ must be cut to fit upon the rounded surface. This makes a simple mantelpiece but a very appropriate one for a log cabin. XLV FIREPLACES AND THE ART OF TENDING THE FIRE ONE of my readers has written to me asking what to do about a fireplace that smokes. Not knowing the fireplace in question, I cannot prescribe for that particular invalid, but I have a long acquaintance with many fireplaces that smoke and fireplaces that do not--in other words, healthy fireplaces with a good digestion and diseased fireplaces functionally wrong with poor digestion--so perhaps the easiest way to answer these questions is to describe a few of my acquaintances among the fireplaces which I have studied. There is an old fireplace in Small Acres, Binghamton, N. Y., of which I made sketches and took measurements which furnished me data by which I built the fireplaces in my own houses. In Binghamton fireplaces the side walls are on an angle and converge toward the back of the fireplace, as in Fig. 274. The back also pitches forward, as in Fig. 282. The great advantage of this is the reflecting of more heat into the room. Fig. 281 shows the fireplace before which I am now working. The fire was started in last November and is now (April 1) still burning, although it has not been rekindled since it was first lighted. This fireplace is well constructed, and on very cold days I have the fire burning out on the hearth fully a foot beyond the line of the mantel without any smoke coming into my studio. Fig. 282 shows a diagram with the dimensions of my studio fireplace and represents the vertical section of it. I give these for the benefit of the people who want to know how to build a fireplace which will not smoke. But, of course, even the best of fireplaces will smoke if the fire is not properly arranged. With smoke the angle of reflection would be equal to the angle of incidence did not the constant tendency of smoke to ascend modify this rule. Throw a rubber ball against the wall and the direction from your hand to where it strikes the wall makes the angle of incidence; when the ball bounces away from the wall it makes the angle of reflection. Management of the Fire But, before we enter into the question regarding the structure of the flue we will take up the management of the fire itself. In the first place, there is but one person who can manage a fire, and that is yourself. Servants never did and never will learn the art, and, as I am writing for men, and the ladies are not supposed to read this article, I will state that the fair sex show a like deficiency in this line. The first thing a woman wants to do with a fire is to make the logs roost on the andirons, the next thing is to remove every speck of ashes from the hearth, and then she wonders why the fire won't burn. The ashes have not been removed from my studio fire since it was first lighted last fall. Ashes are absolutely essential to control a wood-fire and to keep the embers burning overnight. Fig. 288 shows the present state of the ashes in my studio fire. You will see by this diagram that the logs are not resting on the andirons. I only use the andirons as a safeguard to keep the logs from rolling out on the hearth. If the fire has been replenished late in the evening with a fresh log, before retiring I pull the front or the ornamental parts of the andirons to the hearth and then lay the shovel and poker across them horizontally. When the burning log is covered with ashes and the andirons arranged in this manner you can retire at night with a feeling of security and the knowledge that if your house catches afire it will not be caused by the embers in your fireplace. Then in the morning all you have to do is to shovel out the ashes from the rear of the fireplace, put in a new backlog, and bed it in with ashes, as shown in Fig. 286. Put your glowing embers next to the backlog and your fresh wood on top of that and sit down to your breakfast with the certainty that your fire will be blazing before you get up from the table. Don't make the mistake of poking a wood-fire, with the idea, by that means, of making it burn more briskly, or boosting up the logs to get a draught under them. Two logs placed edge to edge, like those in Fig. 288, with hot coals between them, will make their own draught, which comes in at each end of the log, and, what is essential in fire building, they keep the heat between themselves, constantly increasing it by reflecting it back from one to the other. If you happen to be in great haste to make the flames start, don't disturb the logs but use a pair of bellows. Fig. 287 shows a set of the logs which will make the best-constructed fireplace smoke. The arrow-point shows the line of incidence or the natural direction which the smoke would take did not the heat carry it upward. Fig. 285 shows the same logs arranged so that the angle of incidence strikes the back of the chimney and the smoke ascends in the full and orderly manner. But both Figs. 285 and 287 are clumsily arranged. The _B_ logs in each case should be the backlog and the small logs _A_ and _C_ should be in front of _B_. Fig. 281. Fig. 282. Fig. 283. Fig. 284. Fig. 285. Fig. 286. Fig. 287. Fig. 288. [Illustration: Proper and improper ways to build a fireplace and make a fire.] In all of the fireplaces which we have described you will note that the top front of the fireplace under the mantel extends down several inches below the angle of the chimney. Fig. 283 shows a fireplace that is improperly built. This is from a fireplace in a palatial residence in New York City, enclosed in an antique Italian marble mantel, yellow with age, which cost a small fortune. The fireplace was designed and built by a firm of the best architects, composed of men famed throughout the whole of the United States and Europe, _but the fireplace smoked_ because the angle of the chimney was below the opening of the fireplace and, consequently, sent the smoke out into the room. This had to be remedied by setting a piece of thick plate glass over the top of the fireplace, thus making the opening smaller and extending it below the angle of the chimney. Fig. 284 shows the most primitive form of fireplace and chimney. One that a child may see will smoke unless the fire is kept in the extreme back of the hearth. The advantages of ashes in your fireplace are manifold. They retain the heat, keep the hot coals glowing overnight, and when the fire is too hot may be used to cover the logs and subdue the heat. But, of course, if you want a clean hearthstone and the logs roosting upon the andirons, and are devoid of all the camp-fire sentiment, have some asbestos gas-logs. There will be no dust or dirt, no covering up at night with ashes, no bill for cord-wood, and it will look as stiff and prim as any New England old maid and be as devoid of sentiment and art as a department-store bargain picture frame. XLVI THE BUILDING OF THE LOG HOUSE How a Forty-Foot-Front, Two-Story Pioneer Log House Was Put Up with the Help of "Backwoods Farmers"--Making Plans with a Pocket Knife. OUR log house on the shore of Big Tink Pond, Pike County, Pa., was built long before the general public had been educated to enjoy the subtle charms of wild nature, at a time when nature-study was confined to scientists and children, and long before it was fashionable to have wild fowl on one's lawn and wild flowers in one's garden. At that time only a few unconventional souls spent their vacations out of sight of summer hotels, camping on the mountain or forest trails. The present state of the public mind in regard to outdoor life has only been developed within the last few years, and when I first announced my intention of hunting up some accessible wild corner and there erecting a log house for a summer studio and home I found only unsympathetic listeners. But I was young and rash at that time, and without any previous experience in building or the aid of books to guide me and with only such help as I could find among backwoods farmers I built a forty-foot-front, two-story log house that is probably the pioneer among log houses erected by city men for summer homes. It gave Mr. Charles Wingate the suggestions from which he evolved Twilight Park in the Catskills. Twilight Park, being the resort of literary people and their friends, did much to popularize log houses with city people. The deserted farms of New England offer charming possibilities for those whose taste is for nature with a shave, hair cut, and store clothes, but for lovers of untamed nature the waste lands offer stronger inducements for summer-vacation days, and there is no building which fits so naturally in a wild landscape as a good, old-fashioned log cabin. It looks as if it really belonged there and not like a windfall from some passing whirlwind. When I make the claim that any ordinary man can build himself a summer home, I do not mean to say that he will not make blunders and plenty of them; only fools never make mistakes, wise men profit by them, and the reader may profit by mine, for there is no lack of them in our log house at Big Tink. But the house still stands on the bank overlooking the lake and is practically as sound as it was when the last spike was driven, twenty-seven years ago. Almost all of the original log cabins that were once sprinkled through the eastern part of our country disappeared with the advent of the saw-mill, and the few which still exist in the northern part of the country east of the Alleghany Mountains would not be recognized as log houses by the casual observer, for the picturesque log exteriors have been concealed by a covering of clapboards. To my surprise I discovered that even among the old mountaineers I could find none who had ever attended a log-rolling frolic or participated in the erection of a real log house. Most of these old fellows, however, could remember living in such houses in their youth, but they could not understand why any sane man of to-day wanted "to waste so much good lumber," and in the quaint old American dialect still preserved in these regions they explained the wastefulness of my plans and pointed out to me the number of good planks which might be sawed from each log. Fig. 289. [Illustration: Wildlands, the author's log house in Pike County, Pa.] Fig. 290, _B_, shows the plans of the house, which will be seen to be a modification of the Southern "saddle-bag" cabin--two houses under one roof. By referring to Fig. 289 it will be seen that above the gallery there is a portico, which we called the "afterthought" because it did not appear upon the original plans. We got the hint, as "Jimmy" called it, when it was noticed that chance had ordained that the two "_A_" logs should protrude much farther than the others. "Don't saw them off," I exclaimed; "we will have a balcony"; and so the two "_A_" logs were left, and this gave us room for a balcony over the gallery, back of which is a ten-by-ten bedroom, while the two large bedrooms on each side have doors opening on the six-foot passageway, which is made still broader by the addition of the balcony. It will be seen that there is a stairway marked out on the ground plan, but there was none on the original plan, for, to tell the honest truth, I did not know where to put the stairs until the logs were in place. However, it is just such problems that lend charm to the work of building your own house. An architect or a professional builder would have the thing all cut and dried beforehand and leave nothing to chance and inspiration; this takes the whole charm out of the work when one is building for recreation and the pleasure to be derived from the occupation. When our house was finished we had no shutters to the windows and no way of closing up the open ends of the gallery, and my helpers told me that I must not leave the house that way because stray cattle would use the house for a stable and break the windows with their horns as they swung their heads to drive away the flies. So we nailed boards over these openings when we closed the house for the winter. Later we invented some shutters (see _C_, Fig. 290) which can be put up with little trouble and in a few moments. Fig. 290, _C_, shows how these shutters are put in place and locked on the inside by a movable sill that is slid up against the bottom of the shutters and fastened in place by iron pins let into holes bored for the purpose. Fig. 290. [Illustration: Details of author's log house, Wildlands.] Of course, this forms no bar to a professional burglar, but there is nothing inside to tempt cracksmen, and these professional men seldom stray into the woods. The shutters serve to keep out cattle, small boys, and stray fishermen whose idle curiosity might tempt them to meddle with the contents of a house less securely fastened. A house is never really finished until one loses interest in it and stops tinkering and planning homely improvements. This sort of work is a healthy, wholesome occupation and just the kind necessary to people of sedentary occupations or those whose misfortune it is to be engaged in some of the nerve-racking business peculiar to life in big cities. Dwellers in our big cities do not seem to realize that there is any other life possible for them than a continuous nightmare existence amid monstrous buildings, noisy traffic, and the tainted air of unsanitary streets. They seem to have forgotten that the same sun that in summer scorches the towering masonry and paved sidewalks until the canyon-like streets become unbearable also shines on green woods, tumbling waters, and mirror-like lakes; or, if they are dimly conscious of this fact, they think such places are so far distant as to be practically out of their reach in every sense. Yet in reality the wilderness is almost knocking at our doors, for within one hundred miles of New York bears, spotted wildcats, and timid deer live unconfined in their primitive wild condition. Fish caught in the streams can be cooked for dinner in New York the same day. In 1887, when the writer was himself a bachelor, he went out into the wilderness on the shores of Big Tink Pond, upon which he built the log house shown in the sketch. At first he kept bachelor hall there with some choice spirits, not the kind you find in bottles on the bar-room shelf, but the human kind who love the outdoor world and nature, or he took his parents and near relatives with him for a vacation in the woods. Like all sensible men, in course of time he married, and then he took his bride out to the cabin in the woods. At length the time came when he found it necessary to shoulder his axe and go to the woods to secure material for a new _piece of furniture_. He cut the young chestnut-trees, peeled them, and with them constructed a crib; and every year for the last eight years that crib has been occupied part of the season. Thus, you see, a camp of this kind becomes hallowed with the most sacred of human memories and becomes a joy not only to the builder thereof but also to the coming generation. At the big, open fire in the grill-room, with the old-fashioned cooking utensils gathered from farmhouses on Long Island, I have cooked venison steaks, tenderloin of the great northern hare, the plump, white breasts of the ruffed grouse, all broiled over the hot coals with slices of bacon, and when done to a turn, placed in a big platter with fresh butter and served to a crowd who watched the operation and sniffed the delicious odor until they literally drooled at the corners of their mouths. As the house was built on a deer runway, all these things were products of the surrounding country, and on several occasions they have all been served at one meal. XLVII HOW TO LAY A TAR PAPER, BIRCH BARK, OR PATENT ROOFING Preparing the Roofing for Laying BIRCH BARK and patent roofing are more pliable than tin or shingles, consequently taking less time to lay and making it easier work. In very cold weather put your patent roofing in a warm room a few hours before using it. Never try to cut birch bark, tar paper, or patent roofing with a dull knife. Roofing Foundation No matter what sort of roofing material is used, do not forget the great importance of the roofing foundation (Figs. 296 and 298). If the foundation is poor or uneven the roofing will be poor and uneven, even if only the best roofing material is used. The sheathing boards should be matched if possible and of uniform thickness, laid close, and free from nails, protruding knots, and sharp edges. Do not use green lumber; the sun is almost certain to shrink and warp it. Sometimes it will even break the roofing material. On very particular work, where the rafters are wide apart, the best builders recommend laying a course of boards over the planking at right angles to it. Valleys If there are valleys in the roof (Fig. 298) use a long strip of roofing and lay it up and down in the direction of the valleys. Press the strip into the hollow so that it takes the shape of the valley itself. Allow the edges of the roofing to overlap the strip in the valley an equal distance on both sides of the valley (Fig. 298). How to Lay the Roofing Begin at the eaves to lay the roofing (Fig. 299). Always lay the roll of patent roofing with the inside surface to the weather and in the same direction that the boards run--not at right angles to them. Begin nailing at the centre of the edges of the strips and work both ways to the ends--never the reverse, as the roofing may become wrinkled, twisted, or crooked. Always set caps even with the edge of the laps about two inches apart between their centres. Gutters To finish gutters, fasten and carefully cement with the pitch or tar or prepared composition the edge of the strip about half-way to the gutter. Bring the other edge onto the roof, then lay the next strip over this strip so that it will overlap at least two inches. Proceed to lay the balance of the roofing in the same way. Never nail the middle of the strips; nail only along the edges. The end strips should always be lapped over the edges of the roof and fastened (Figs. 297 and 299). Before fastening laps paint a two-inch strip with the tar or pitch cement which comes with all patent roofing in order to stick it to the lower strip of roofing and to make a tight joint when put in place. Do not drive nails carelessly or with too much force and be sure the cap fits snugly against the roofing. If nails go into holes or open cracks, do not remove them but thoroughly cement around them. Allow six inches for overlaps for joints where one strip joins another (Fig. 299, _B_). Be sure that two strips of roofing never meet at the ridge leaving a joint to invite a leak over the ridge-pole. Examine the diagrams if you fail to understand the description. How to Patch a Shingle Roof The reader must not suppose that the roof of my camp was made of flannel because it shrank, for the whole house, which was made of logs, diminished in size as the wood became seasoned; so that now each log averages a quarter of an inch less in width than it did when the house was built twenty odd years ago. There are just one hundred logs in the house, which makes the house twenty-five inches smaller than it was when it was built, but I cannot point out the exact spot where the two feet and one inch are missing. Neither do I know that this had anything to do with the opening in the roof about the chimney; but I do know that the opening gradually became wider and wider until it not only admitted the entrance of numerous flying squirrels and other varmints but also let in the rain and snow and consequently it had to be remedied. Neither the flying squirrels nor the elements can now enter at that point. The Connecticut Yankees stop the leaks around the big chimneys of the old farmhouses with mortar or concrete, but at permanent camps cement is not always handy, and even if one is living in a farmhouse it will probably necessitate quite a long drive to procure it. If, however, there happens to be on hand some strips of the various tar roofing compounds, some old tin, or even a good piece of oilcloth--by which I mean a piece that may be so worn as to have been cast aside and yet not so perforated with holes that it will admit the rain--it may be used to stop the leak. Fig. 291. Fig. 292. Fig. 293. Fig. 294. Fig. 296. Fig. 297. Fig. 298. Fig. 299. [Illustration: How to lay a composition roof and how to cover space around flue. (Fig. 295 is on next plate.)] Fixtures for Applying Roofing The complete roofing kit consists of cement, caps, and nails. The galvanized caps and nails are the best to use; they won't rust. Square caps have more binding surface than the ordinary round ones; but we can mend "with any old thing." Fig. 291 shows a chimney from which the roof of the house is parted, leaving a good-sized opening around the smoke-stack. To cover this, take a piece of roofing compound, tin, oilcloth, tar paper, or paroid and cut as is shown in the upper diagram (Fig. 292). Make the slits in the two ends of the material of such a length that when the upper ends are bent back, as in the lower diagram (Fig. 292), they will fit snugly around the chimney. You will need one piece like this for each side of the chimney. Where the ends of the chimney butt against the ridge of the roof you will require pieces slit in the same manner as the first but _bent differently_. The upper lobe in this case is bent on the bias to fit the chimney, while the lower one is bent over the ridge of the roof (Figs. 293 and 294). To better illustrate how this is done, Fig. 293 is supposed to show the chimney with the roof removed. Fig. 294 is the same view of the chimney with the two pieces in place. You will need four pieces, two at each end of the chimney, to cover the ridge of the roof. With all the many varieties of tar paper and composition roofing there come tacks or wire nails supplied with round tin disks perforated in the centre, which are used as washers to prevent the nail from pulling through the roofing. Fig. 295 shows the chimney with the patches around it tacked in place, and the protruding ends of the parts trimmed off according to the dotted lines. Fig. 297 shows the way the roofing people put flashing on; but I like my own way, as illustrated by Figs. 291, 292, 293, 294, and 295. It must not be taken for granted that every camp or farmhouse has a supply of tin washers, but we know that every camp and farmhouse does have a supply of tin cans, and the washers may be made from these, as shown by Figs. 300 and 301. Knock the cans apart at their seams and cut the tin up into pieces like the rectangular one shown under the hand in Fig. 301. Bend these pieces in their centres so as to make them into squares, then place them on a piece of soft wood and punch holes in them by driving a wire nail through the tin and you will have better washers than those you can buy although they may not be so handsome. Patched Roofs and New Shingles Any decent shingled roof should last fifteen years without repairing and many of them last nearly twice that time. But there comes a time when the roof begins to leak and needs mending; when that time comes, with your jack-knife whittle a number of little wooden pegs or splints each about six inches long and a little thicker than a pipe-stem with which to Mark the Holes Go up in the attic and wherever you see daylight through the roof push through the hole a wooden peg to mark the spot. Then, when you have finished and are ready to climb on the roof, take off your shoes, put on a pair of woollen socks, and there will be little danger of your slipping. New india rubber shoes with corrugated soles are also good to wear when climbing on the roof. In Fig. 295½ you will see two of the pegs sticking through the roof marking the holes, and below is a larger view of one of these pegs connected with the upper ones by dotted lines. Sheet-Iron Shingles To mend simple cracks or holes like these it is only necessary to bend up bits of tin or sheet iron (Fig. 300) and drive the metal shingle up underneath the shingle above the hole so that the "weather" part of the tin covers the leak, or drive it under the leaking shingle itself, or drive a new shingle up under or over the damaged one. Where there is a bad place in the roof it may be necessary to make a patch of a number of shingles like the one shown in the right-hand corner of Fig. 295½, but even then it is not necessary to remove the old shingles unless the hole is very large. These patches of old tin or new shingles do not look handsome on an old roof, but they serve their purpose in keeping out the rain and snow and preventing moisture from rotting the timbers. The weather will soon tone down the color of the new shingles so that they will not be noticeable and you will have the satisfaction of having a dry roof over your head. There is only one thing worse than a leaky roof and that is a leaky boat. Practical Patching In these days when everybody with a few hundred dollars in pocket is very sensibly using it to buy a farm and farmhouse so as to be able for a part of the year to return to the simple life of our ancestors it is very necessary that we should also know something of the simple economies of those days, for when one finds oneself out on a farm there is no plumber around the corner and no tinsmith on the next block whom one may call upon to repair breaks and the damage done by time and weather on an old farmhouse. The ordinary man under these conditions is helpless, but some are inspired by novel ideas, as, for instance, the man who mended the leaking roof with porous plasters. Fig. 295. Fig. 295½. Fig. 300. Fig. 301. Fig. 302. Fig. 303. Fig. 304. Fig. 305. Fig. 306. [Illustration: How to mend a shingle or tin roof.] But for the benefit of those who are not supplied with a stock of porous plasters I will tell how to do the plumbing and how to mend the tin roof with old bits of tin, rags, and white lead; and to begin with I want to impress upon the reader's mind that this will be no bungling, unsightly piece of work, but much more durable and just as neat as any piece of work which the professionals would do for him. In the first place, if you have an old tin roof on one of the extensions of your house or on your house itself, do not be in haste to replace it with a new one. Remember that most of the modern sheet tin is made by modern methods and its life is not an extended one. The sheet _steel_ they often use in place of sheet _iron_ rapidly disintegrates and such a roof will not last you half the time that a properly patched old one will. The roof of the house in which I am writing this article is made of tin and was made about sixty years ago; it has been patched and mended but to no great extent, and it bids fair to outlive me. Had it been made of sheet steel it would have been necessary to renew it many times since that period. So, if you find that the tin roof to your farmhouse, bungalow, or camp leaks in consequence of some splits at the seams and a few rust holes patch them yourself. Fig. 301 shows the only material necessary for that purpose. You do not even need a pair of shears to cut your tin, for it is much better folded over and hammered into shape, as shown by Fig. 301. Fig. 302 shows a crack and some rust holes in the tin roof. Take your carpet-tacks and hammer and neatly tack down the edges of the opening, as shown by Fig. 303. If there is any difficulty in driving tacks through the tin roof, use a small wire nail and hammer to first punch the holes. Put the tacks close together. With your paint-brush thickly coat the mended parts with white lead, as shown by Fig. 304. Cut a strip of a rag to fit over the holes and tack it at its four corners, as shown by Fig. 305. Now, then, cover the rag with a thick coat (Fig. 306) of the white lead. Next tack the tin over the wounded spots, putting the tacks close together, as shown by Fig. 306. Afterward coat the tin with a covering of white lead and the patchwork is done. The roof will not leak again at those spots in the next twenty years. This will leave white, unsightly blotches on the roof, but after the white lead is dry a few dabs with the red roof paint will make the white patches the same color as the surrounding tin and effectually conceal them. Do not forget the importance of carefully going over your roof after it is mended and make sure that every joint is properly covered, tacked, and thoroughly coated with white lead. Cover all joints, nails, and caps with a coat of white lead. Water will not run through the tin roofing, but it will find its way through nail holes, rust holes, and open seams if they are not made absolutely tight. Plumbing After I had finished doctoring up the kitchen roof of my farmhouse, I discovered that the drain-pipe from the kitchen sink had a nasty leak where the pipe ran through the cellar. Of course, there was no plumber handy--plumbers do not live in farming districts--so it was "up to" me and my helper to stop the leak as best we could. A few blows on the lead with the hammer, carefully administered, almost closed the hole. I then had recourse to the white lead which I had been using on the kitchen roof, and I daubed the pipe with paint; still the water oozed through; but after I had applied a strip of linen to the leak and then neatly wrapped it round and painted the whole of it with white lead the leak was effectually stopped, and the pipe is apparently as good now, six years after the mending, as it was when it was new. In this sort of work it must be remembered that it is the white lead we depend upon, and the other material which we use--the tin and the rags--are only for the purpose of protecting and holding the white lead in place. Of course, a roof may be mended with tar, but that is always unsightly and insists upon running when heated by a hot sun; besides, it is most difficult to conceal and does not come ready for use like white lead. If the leak happens to be around the chimney it can be mended by bending pieces of tin up against the chimney according to the diagram shown for the tar paper and patent roofings (Figs. 295 and 297). Flashings, Chimneys, Walls, Etc. Lead or copper is best for flashings, but in case metal is not convenient you will find that various patent roofing materials are good substitutes. Run the strips of roofing to the angle formed by the object to be flashed and extend the same up the object three or four inches. Fasten these strips to the roof in the usual way or by nailing cleats of wood over the top edges. Leaks in tubs, barrels, and tanks used about the farm can be mended with rags, tin, and white lead in the manner described for the roof and pipe. Also leaks in the leaders running from the roof may be treated in the same manner, but if you must get new leaders for your house by no means replace the old ones with _galvanized-steel_ tubes. You can tell the difference between galvanized steel and galvanized iron by its appearance. The steel is brighter and more silvery than the iron, but my experience is that the steel will last only two or three years; sometimes one season puts steel pipes out of commission, whereas galvanized iron will last indefinitely. After having three sets of galvanized-steel leaders on my town house, I had them replaced with copper leaders; for, although the expense is greater, I have found it more economical in the end. For people having plenty of money to spend on their country houses I would advise the use of copper leaders, but folks of limited means will save money patching up the old tin ones or old galvanized ones instead of replacing them with galvanized steel, which is of little service for outdoor wear. There are, I believe, only a few firms who now manufacture galvanized iron, but your architect can find them if you insist upon it. XLVIII HOW TO MAKE A CONCEALED LOG CABIN INSIDE OF A MODERN HOUSE IT was because the writer knew that a great many men and all the boys rebelled against the conventionalities and restrictions of a modern house that he first invented and suggested the surprise den and told how to make one years ago in the _Outing_ magazine. Since that article appeared the idea has been adopted by a number of people. There is a beautiful one in Toledo, O., where the writer was entertained during the floods, and Doctor Root, of Hartford, Conn., has even a better one in his home in that Yankee city. Fig. 308 shows a rough sketch of a corner of Doctor Root's surprise den which he calls his "loggery." From the outside of the house there is no indication of anything upon the inside that may not be found in any conventional dwelling, which is the proper way to build the surprise den. Figs. 307, 309, and 310 are sketches made as suggestions to those wishing to add the surprise den to their dwelling. To fathers and mothers having sons anywhere from twelve to thirty years of age, it is almost a necessity nowadays to give these boys a room of their own, popularly known as the "den," a retreat where they can go and sit in a chair without having fancy embroidered tidies adhere to their coat collars, where they can lean back in their chairs, if they choose, with no danger of ruining the valuable Hepplewhite or breaking the claw feet off a rare Chippendale--a place where they can relax. The greater the contrast between this room and the rest of the house, the greater will be the enjoyment derived by the boys to whom it belongs. The only two surprise dens which I have personally visited are the pride of the lives of two gentlemen who are both long past the years generally accorded to youth, but both of them are still boys in their hearts. The truth is a surprise den appeals to any man with romance in his soul; and the more grand, stately, and formal his house may be, the greater will the contrast be and the greater the surprise of this den. It is a unique idea and makes a delightful smoking-room for the gentlemen of the house as well as a den for the boys of the house. Fig. 307. Fig. 308. Fig. 309. Fig. 310. [Illustration: Suggestions for interiors of surprise dens and sketch of Dr. Root's surprise den.] If the reader's house is already built, the surprise den may be erected as an addition; it may be built as a log cabin after the manner of any of those previously described in this book, or it may be made an imitation log cabin by using slabs and nailing them on the walls in place of real whole logs. Doctor Root's surprise den, or "loggery," is made of whole logs and chinked with moss. Fig. 310 is supposed to be made of slabs, half logs, or puncheons nailed to the walls and ceiling and so arranged that the visitor cannot detect the deception. Personally, however, I do not like deception of any sort and would recommend that the house be made, if possible, of whole logs; but whatever way you build it, remember that it must have a generous, wide fireplace, a crane, and a good hearthstone, and that your furniture must either be made of the material to be found in the woods or selected from the antique furniture of some old farmhouse, not mahogany furniture, but Windsor chairs, three-legged stools, and deal-wood tables--such furniture as might be found in an old pioneer's home. Fig. 311. Fig. 312. Fig. 313. Fig. 314. Fig. 315. Fig. 316. Fig. 317. Fig. 318. Fig. 319. Fig. 320. [Illustration: Details of combined door-knob and wooden latch.] The principal thing to the surprise den, however, is the doorway. The outside of the door--that is, the side seen from the main part of the house--should be as formal as its surroundings and give no indication of what might be on the other side. If it opens from the most formal room in the house, so much the better. Fig. 321 shows the outside of the door of the surprise den; I do not mean by this outside of the house but a doorway facing the dining-room, library, drawing-room, or parlor. Fig. 321 shows one side of the door and Fig. 322 the other side of the same door. In this instance one side of the door is supposed to have a bronze escutcheon and a glass knob (Figs. 315 and 316). Of course, any other sort of a knob (Fig. 313) will answer our purpose, but the inside, or the surprise-den side, of the door must have A Wooden Latch After some experiments I discovered that this could be easily arranged by cutting a half-round piece of hardwood (_F_, Fig. 312) to fit upon the square end _G_ of the knob (Figs. 311 and 313) and be held in place with a small screw (Fig. 314). When this arrangement is made for the door and the knob put in place as it is in Figs. 315 and 316, a simple wooden latch (Fig. 317) with the catch _K_ (Fig. 319) and the guard (Fig. 320) may be fastened upon the den side of the door as shown by _K_, _L_, (Fig. 317). When the door is latched the wooden piece _F_ fits underneath the latch as shown by Fig. 317. When the knob is turned, it turns the half disk and lifts the latch _H_ as shown in Fig. 318; this, of course, opens the door, and the visitor is struck with amazement upon being ushered into a pioneer backwoods log cabin, where after-dinner coffee may be served, where the gentlemen may retire to smoke their cigars, where the master of the house may retire, free from the noise of the children, to go over his accounts, write his private letters, or simply sit before the fire and rest his tired brain by watching the smoke go up the chimney. Fig. 321. Fig. 322. [Illustration: The "surprise den." A log house inside a modern mansion.] Here also, over the open fire, fish, game, and chickens may be cooked, as our grandams and granddaddies cooked them, and quaint, old-fashioned luncheons and suppers served on earthenware or tin dishes, camp style. In truth, the surprise den possesses so many charming possibilities that it is destined to be an adjunct to almost every modern home. It can be enclosed within the walls of a city house, a suburban house, or added as a wing to a country house, but in all cases the outside of the surprise den should conform in material used and general appearance to the rest of the house so as not to betray the secret. XLIX HOW TO BUILD APPROPRIATE GATEWAYS FOR GROUNDS ENCLOSING LOG HOUSES, GAME PRESERVES, RANCHES, BIG COUNTRY ESTATES, AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST BOY SCOUTS' CAMP GROUNDS THE great danger with rustic work is the temptation, to which most builders yield, to make it too fancy and intricate in place of practical and simple. Figs. 323, 324, 325, and 326 are as ornamental as one can make them without incurring the danger of being overdone, too ornate, too fancy to be really appropriate. Fig. 323. Fig. 324. Fig. 325. Fig. 326. [Illustration: Which would you rather do or go fishing? Suggestions for log gates.] Which Would You Rather Do or Go Fishing? Fig. 328 is a gate made of upright logs with bevelled tops protected by plank acting as a roof, and a flattened log fitting across the top. The gate and fence, you may see, are of simple construction; horizontal logs for the lower part keep out small animals, upright posts and rails for the upper part keep out larger animals and at the same time do not shut out the view from the outside or the inside of the enclosure. Fig. 324 shows a roof gateway designed and made for the purpose of supplying building sites for barn swallows or other useful birds. The fence for this one is a different arrangement of logs, practical and not too fancy. Fig. 325 shows a modification of the gate shown by Fig. 323; in this one, however, in place of a plank protecting bevelled edges of the upright logs, two flattened logs are spiked on like rafters to a roof, the apex being surmounted by a bird-house. Fig. 326 shows another gateway composed of two upright logs with a cross log overhead in which holes have been excavated for the use of white-breasted swallows, bluebirds, woodpeckers, or flickers. Fig. 327 is another simple but picturesque form of gateway, where the cross log at the top has its two ends carved after the fashion of totem-poles. In place of a wooden fence a stone wall is shown. The ends of the logs (Fig. 327), which are embedded in the earth, should first be treated with two or three coats of creosote to prevent decay; but since it is the moisture of the ground that causes the decay, if you arrange your gate-posts like those shown in the vertical section (Fig. 328), they will last practically forever. Note that the short gate-post rests upon several small stones with air spaces between them, and pointed ends of the upright logs rest upon one big stone. The gate-post is fastened to the logs by crosspieces of board running horizontally from log to the post, and these are enclosed inside the stone pier so that they are concealed from view. This arrangement allows all the water to drain from the wood, leaving it dry and thus preventing decay. Fig. 329 shows another form of gate-post of more elaborate structure, surmounted by the forked trunk of a tree; these parts are supposed to be spiked together or secured in place by hardwood pegs. Never forget to add the bird-house or bird shelter to every gateway you make; it is more important than the gate itself. In my other books I have described and told how to make various forms of bird-houses, including my invention of the woodpecker's house now being manufactured by many firms, including one in Germany, but the reader should make his own bird-houses. I am glad the manufacturers have taken up these ideas for the good they will _do the birds_, but the ideas were published first solely for the use of the boys in the hopes of educating them both in the conservation of bird life and in the manual training necessary to construct bird-houses. Fig. 327. Fig. 328. Fig. 329. [Illustration: Gateways for game preserves, camps, etc.] Fig. 330. Fig. 331. Fig. 332. [Illustration: Log gate and details of same.] The reader must have, no doubt, noticed that the problems in this book have become more and more difficult as we approach the end, but this is because everything grows; as we acquire skill we naturally seek more and more difficult work on which to exercise our skill. These gateways, however, are none of them too difficult for the boys to build themselves. The main problem to overcome in building the picturesque log gateway shown by Fig. 331 is not in laying up the logs or constructing the roof--the reader has already learned how to do both in the forepart of this book--but it is in so laying the logs that the slant or incline on the two outsides will be exactly the same, also in so building the sides that when you reach the top of the open way and place your first overhead log, the log will be exactly horizontal, exactly level, as it must be to carry out the plan in a workmanlike manner. Fig. 330 shows you the framework of the roof, the ridge-pole of which is a plank cut "sway-backed," that is, lower in the centre than at either end. The frame should be roofed with hand-rived shingles, or at least hand-trimmed shingles, if you use the manufactured article of commerce. This gateway is appropriate for a common post-and-rail fence or any of the log fences illustrated in the previous diagrams. Fig. 332 shows how the fence here shown is constructed: the _A_ logs are bevelled to fit in diagonally, the _B_ and _C_ logs are set in as shown by the dotted line in Fig. 332. A gateway like the one shown here would make a splendid and imposing one for a permanent camp, whether it be a Boy Scout, a Girl Pioneer, a private camp for boys, or simply the entrance to a large private estate. The writer has made these diagrams so that they may be used by men or boys; the last one shows a gateway large enough to admit a "four-in-hand" stage-coach or an automobile, but the boys may build it in miniature so that the opening is only large enough to admit a pedestrian. _The End_ THE BEARD BOOKS FOR BOYS By DAN C. BEARD Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties Illustrated by the Author $1.25 net He gives easily workable directions, accompanied by very full illustration, for over fifty shelters, shacks, and shanties, ranging from the most primitive shelter to a fully equipped log cabin. 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The volume is profusely illustrated and will be an unmixed delight to any boy."--_New York Tribune._ The American Boys Handy Book Or, What To Do and How To Do It Illustrated by the Author $1.50 net "It tells boys how to make all kinds of things--boats, traps, toys, puzzles, aquariums, fishing tackle; how to tie knots, splice ropes, make bird calls, sleds, blow guns, balloons; how to rear wild birds, to train dogs, and do a thousand and one things that boys take delight in. The book is illustrated in such a way that no mistake can be made; and the boy who gets a copy of this book will consider himself set up in business."--_The Indianapolis Journal._ CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS THE BEARD BOOKS FOR GIRLS By LINA BEARD and ADELIA B. BEARD Handicraft and Recreation for Girls With over 700 illustrations by the Authors 8vo. $1.50 net An elaborate book for girls, by Lina and Adelia Beard whose former books on girls' sports have become classic, which contains a mass of practical instruction on handicrafts and recreations. So many and so various are the things it tells how to do and make that it will give occupation to any sort of girl in all seasons and all weathers. "The girl who gets this book will not lack for occupation and pleasure."--_Chicago Evening Post._ What a Girl Can Make and Do New Ideas for Work and Play With more than 300 illustrations by the Authors Square 8vo. $1.50 net This book is the result of the authors' earnest desire to encourage in their young friends the wish to do things for themselves. Its aim is to give suggestions that will help them to satisfy this wish. Within its covers are described a great variety of things useful, instructive, and entertaining, suited for both indoors and out. "It would be a dull girl who could not make herself busy and happy following its precepts."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ THE BEARD BOOKS FOR GIRLS The American Girl's Handy Book How To Amuse Yourself and Others With nearly 500 illustrations 8vo. $1.50 net In this book Lina and Adelia Beard, the authors, tell everything the girls of to-day want to know about sports, games, and winter afternoon and evening amusements and work, in a clear, simple, entertaining way. Eight new chapters have been added to the original forty-two that made the book famous. "It is a treasure which, once possessed, no practical girl would willingly part with."--_Grace Greenwood._ Things Worth Doing and How To Do Them With some 600 drawings by the Authors that show exactly how they should be done 8vo. $1.50 net This book by Lina and Adelia Beard comprises an infinite variety of amusing things that are worth doing. Some of these things are:--"A Wonderful Circus at Home," "The Wild West on a Table," "How to Weave Without a Loom," "How to Make Friends with the Stars," "A Living Christmas Tree," etc. "Everything is so plainly set forth and so fully illustrated with drawings that the happy owners of the book should find it easy to follow its suggestions."--_New York Tribune._ CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS Page 202 fat side changed to flat side. Page 230 numer changed to number. 
59380	----	by The Internet Archive. Transcriber Note Text emphasis denoted by _Italics_ and =Bold.= Whole and fractional parts of numbers as 12-3/4. BUILDING with LOGS Miscellaneous Publication No. 579 U. S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service The art of log construction is relatively simple, once a few basic principles are understood. The pioneers who opened the lands beyond the eastern seaboard did not have boards with which to build such shelter as they needed. Logs were so plentiful in the forested area of our country that, with their resourceful ingenuity, the settlers built their homes in conformity with those principles of log construction which prevailed in the countries from which they migrated. Those principles have remained the same down through the years. The pioneer had but an ax for a tool and consequently made only those articles which could be hewed out of wood. Today there are many tools available, and to do a first class job of log construction one must know how to handle the double-bitted or single-bitted ax, the broadax, saw, adz, chisel, slick, ship auger, and drawknife. In this bulletin it is assumed that the reader is familiar with the ordinary frame building methods used where wood is the principal construction material. Washington, D. C. Issued September 1945 BUILDING WITH LOGS By Clyde P. Fickes, _Engineer_, and W. Ellis Groben, _Chief Architect, Forest Service_ Contents Page Building the foundation 1 Preparing the logs 1 Dimensions of the building 2 Framing the corners 3 Round-notch corner 4 Other log corners 7 Door and window jambs 12 Floor joists 12 Laying the wall logs 12 Window and door openings 14 Window and door frames 16 Roof framing 22 Shake roofs 23 Partitions 23 Flooring 24 Interior wood finishing 25 Calking 25 Chinking 27 Chinkless log cabin construction 28 Milled-log construction 31 Hewing timbers 31 Fireplace framing 31 Oiling and painting 35 The finished structure 35 Furniture 39 Chairs and stools 39 Bed and bunk 39 Chest and buffet 47 Settee 47 Dining table 49 Table, bench, book rack, and wood hod 50 Building plans 53 Additional information 56 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION A building should have a good foundation, and a log structure is no exception to the rule. For the sake of economy in labor and material it is sufficient, in some instances, to place small buildings on piers of concrete or rough native stone, but usually it will be more satisfactory to use continuous walls of stone masonry or concrete to provide uninterrupted support for the logs and thus avoid their tendency to sag. These walls, however, should be provided with small openings for the circulation of air to prevent the wood from dry rotting. Furthermore, the continuous foundation wall has the additional advantage of preventing rodents from getting under the building. In no case should the logs be placed directly upon the ground since wood tends to decay when in contact with the earth. The two end walls of the exterior foundation should be higher than the side walls in order to offset the difference in level of the logs on adjacent walls, the end-wall logs being half their thickness higher than those on the side walls. In building a log wall the chief problem is in closing the opening between each pair of logs. There are various ways of doing this, but only those regarded as most satisfactory will be described in this publication. The width of such openings is affected by several factors: (1) The manner of placing the logs upon each other; (2) the type of corner used where two walls meet; (3) the openings for doors and windows; and (4) the natural shrinkage of wood in the process of drying. PREPARING THE LOGS The selection of straight, smooth, even-sized logs is the prime consideration (fig. 1). Top diameters should be as uniform as possible, but as a rule not less than 10 nor more than 12 inches. (Slightly smaller or larger dimensions may be used if no others are available.) The taper should be as slight as possible. For logs longer than 40 feet, the top diameter may be less than 10 inches in order to avoid an excessive diameter at the large or butt end. [Illustration: Figure 1.--Starting to build the log cabin--laying the foundation.] Cedar, pine, fir, and larch, in the order named, are most desirable for log construction. All knots, limbs, or bumps should be trimmed off carefully when the log is peeled. It is best to cut the logs in late fall or winter, for two important reasons: (1) Logs cut in spring or summer peel easier, but crack or check to an undesirable degree while seasoning. (2) Insect activity is dormant during the winter months; hence, if the logs are cut and seasoned then, they are less liable to damage by insects or rot-producing fungi. Logs should be cut, peeled, and laid on skids well above the ground for at least 6 months before being placed in the building. This may not always be possible, but it is a good rule to follow. Logs should be stored in a single deck with 2 or 3 inches between them to permit complete exposure to the air. Logs having a sweep or curve should be piled with the curve uppermost so that their weight will tend to straighten them while they are drying. Where the skidding space is limited, logs may be double-decked, using poles between tiers. Unrestricted air circulation materially aids seasoning. Sort the logs carefully before starting construction, using the better ones in the front or other conspicuous walls of the building. If the logs are not uniform in size, the larger ones should be placed at the bottom of the walls. DIMENSIONS OF THE BUILDING For practical reasons the dimensions of a log building are the inside measurements taken from one log to the corresponding log in the opposite wall. Outside dimensions vary somewhat with the size of the logs, thus accounting for the use of inside measurements. Where projecting corners are desired, logs should be at least 6 feet longer than the inside dimensions of the building. In erecting the walls, the logs should be kept even or plumb on the inside faces if it is desired to finish the interior with wallboard or plaster. FRAMING THE CORNERS The corner is one of the most important aspects of log construction. On it the appearance and stability of the structure depend. Different types of corner construction are in use in the United States, each varying in accordance with local building customs or individual taste. [Illustration: Figure 2.--The round-notch or saddle corner. This is an unusually fine example of scribing and fitting logs together. The square-cut logs have yet to be dressed and shaped with the ax to give them a pleasing appearance.] [Illustration: Figure 3.--Ranger station, Gallatin National Forest, Mont., illustrating effective use of round-notch corners. _A_, and _B_, Dwelling under construction; _C_, barn.] Round-Notch Corner The round-notch, or saddle, corner (fig. 2) is generally considered the most satisfactory from every standpoint. This type of corner gives the most distinctive appearance because the logs project sufficiently beyond the corner not to appear dubbed off (fig. 3). It is a good, self-locking, mechanical joint, relatively easy to construct, and holds the logs rigidly in place. [Illustration: Figure 4.--Method of marking saddle corners.] In cutting the saddle, the material is taken out of the under side of the upper log without disturbing the top surface of the bottom log. All the moisture thus drains out at the corner and, consequently, the wood is much less subject to decay than if other types of corners were used. The shrinkage in the outer area of the log's circumference tends to open up the space between the logs. Finally, in the round-notch corner, one-half of the shrinkage between the logs is allowed to remain in the corner. The separation, therefore, is not as great as if each log had been cut down to the heartwood, a disadvantage common to most other types of corners. The tools required to make a round-notch or saddle corner are: A pair of log dogs to hold the log in place, 10- or 12-inch wing dividers with pencil holder and level-bubble attachment, sharp ax, 2-inch gouge chisel with outside bevel, crosscut saw, spirit level, and plumb board. The framing of this corner, described in figure 4, should be relatively easy. [Illustration: Figure 5.--Chopping the notch in a saddle corner.] First, the bottom logs should be set in place on opposite sides of the foundation. Hew a flat face of 2 to 3 inches in width on the under side of the log where it rests on the foundation, so that it will lay in place. Then place the bottom log on each end-wall and accurately center it so that the inside face of all four logs is to the exact interior dimensions of the building. Dog the logs into place so they will not move while being marked for the corner notch. The wing divider is now set for one-half the diameter of the side log. With the lower leg of the divider resting on the side of the under log and the other leg, with the level-bubble uppermost, resting against the bottom of the upper log and directly above the lower log, start moving the divider upward, with a side motion, so that the lower leg follows the curvature of the under log. The pencil point of the upper leg makes a mark on the surface of the upper log which will be the intersection of the surfaces of the two logs when the notch has been cut from the upper one. Repeat this operation four times to mark all four sides of the corner. A little practice will make you adept at keeping the points of the divider perpendicular to each other. After the notch has been marked at both ends of the log, turn it over on its back. It is a good idea to intensify the divider mark with an indelible pencil so that it will be easily followed. Chop the notch out roughly, as illustrated in figure 5, then chip down as closely as possible to the mark, supplying the finishing touches with a gouge chisel. The finished notch should be cupped out just enough to allow the weight of the log to come on the outside edges, thus insuring a tight joint. When the next side log is rolled into place, the dividers should be set apart for the width of the space between the top of the first and the bottom of the following log, and the marking repeated as before. If you wish to have the upper log "ride" the lower one a little, so that an especially tight joint is obtained, the dividers should be set a little wider apart than the space actually requires. Other Log Corners The dovetail, or box, corner (figs. 6 and 7) is a strong corner, and considerable experience is required in order to make a neat-looking job. This type has several undesirable features: (1) The logs are apt to develop a wide crack because the corner is framed from the part of the log in which the least shrinkage occurs, and (2) since the logs are hewed down to form the corner, the wood has a tendency to collect and retain moisture which soon results in decay. Also, this corner detracts noticeably from the "loggy" appearance so characteristic and desirable in log structures. The drawings in figure 6 show the most practical methods of marking and framing the dovetail, or box, corner. The flat, or plain, tenon corner (fig. 8), is also common. It may be made in two ways. In one, only the bearing surfaces are framed, while in the other, all four sides of the tenon are framed flat. The plain tenon corner does not have the highly desirable feature of being self-locking. However, it is simple to make and economical, and therefore especially suitable for temporary structures. The logs must be pinned together, as shown in figure 11. All the framing can be done on the ground, before the logs are put in place. Carefully fitted, this makes a neat-looking job. _Directions for constructing the flat, or plain, tenon corner._--Square one end of log, as in figure 8, at point _A_, then measure required length and saw the opposite end square, at _B_. If the log has any curvature, turn it on the skids until its back is up. Determine the thickness of the tenons, based upon the average top and butt diameters of the log. Then take an 18-inch length of board the same width as the thickness of the tenons, driving a nail through its center and into the center of the log. Place the spirit level on top of the board and mark lines on the log at the top and bottom edges. The width of a tenon varies with the diameter of the logs; 8- to 10-inch diameters will produce 6- to 7-inch wide tenons. [Illustration: Figure 6.--Marking and framing the dovetail, or box, corner.] [Illustration: Figure 7.--Ranger Station, Lolo National Forest, Mont. Note the meticulous construction of box corners.] [Illustration: Figure 8.--Framing the flat, or plain, tenon corner.] Nail a 1 inch by 1 inch cleat on the pattern board to points _C_ and _D_ and then make saw cuts on each end, cut chip off and smooth the surface. Turn log over and repeat on the other side. After framing out the sides of the tenon, the log is ready to be placed on the wall. Some fitting between corners is usually necessary but, if the logs are fairly straight and smooth, the work will be minimized. The upright, or groove-and-tenon, corner (fig. 9) is used to a considerable extent in the West. It has desirable features from a mechanical standpoint: (1) The weight of the building is carried on the full length of the logs and does not rest solely on the corners, as in other types, and (2) it makes a tight wall because no openings will develop between the logs. Although not difficult to construct, the upright corner requires considerable mechanical skill and accuracy. A good carpenter can frame the entire building on the ground before any logs are placed on the foundation, after which it can be erected in a very short time. Next to the round-notch corner the upright, or groove-and-tenon corner, probably has the best appearance. [Illustration: Figure 9.--Framing the upright, or groove-and-tenon, corner.] DOOR AND WINDOW JAMBS Door and window jambs should be framed just like the corners except that only the back should be grooved. The door side, or face, may be rabbeted or left smooth so that a separate wood door stop may be nailed in place. If the logs are reasonably dry, from 3 to 4 inches should be left at each corner for settlement due to shrinkage; otherwise, more or less space should be allowed, as conditions require. In about 6 months the cap log will come down and close this gap. Similar provisions should be made for settlement over door and window openings. FLOOR JOISTS As soon as the first round or tier of logs is laid, the floor joists should be set in place, notching them into the bottom side logs. If the building has a continuous masonry foundation, the joists may be set on top of it, as in a frame building. In order that the ends of the joists may have sufficient bearing on the wall, it is necessary either to notch the ends into the side logs or hew the latter off on the inside. A simple method is to cut the notches in the side logs before they are rolled into place. Pole joists should be from 4 to 8 inches in diameter and hewed level on the upper side to provide a solid bearing for nailing the flooring. Several different ways of framing the floor joists are shown in figure 10. LAYING THE WALL LOGS In laying the successive rounds of logs in the walls, several details must be observed to keep them lined up so that the top logs form a level seat for the roof framing. The corners should be kept as level as possible as each round is laid. This can be done by measuring vertically from the top of the floor joists, from time to time, as a check. A variation of 1 inch in height will not cause a serious difficulty. The height of the corner's is regulated in two ways: (1) By increasing or decreasing the depth of the notch, and (2) by reversing the top and butt ends of the logs when laying them in the wall. The logs should be fitted together as tightly as possible. In the case of somewhat irregularly surfaced logs, it may be necessary to smooth off certain portions of the under side of the upper log to secure a tight fit. Only in exceptional instances, however, should this be done to the top of the lower log. The face of the logs on the inside of the building must be kept plumb, that is, in the same vertical plane. An ordinary carpenter's, or spirit, level may be used, but a 6- to 8-foot plumb board is considered most satisfactory because of its greater length. The logs should be pinned together with a wooden pin or large spike (fig. 11). Spiking is done by boring a 3/4-inch hole halfway through the upper log and continuing with a 7/16-inch hole through the bottom half. Then drive a 10- or 12-inch spike into place, or until it penetrates half the next log below. The spikes should be staggered in alternate rounds or tiers of logs. If wooden pins are used, fir or oak logs are preferable. Neither wooden pins nor spikes, however, offer interference to the settling of the walls. [Illustration: Figure 10.--Framing floor joists.] The spike method is easier and quicker, and just as satisfactory as the wooden pin. The logs should be pinned approximately 2 feet from each corner and at each side of the window and door openings. For small structures, where the alignment of the walls is not so important, pinning may be eliminated, but it is essential to align larger buildings accurately in order to prevent individual logs from springing out of place. [Illustration: Figure 11.--Pinning logs together.] Where the use of logs having a decided curve, or sweep, is unavoidable they should be set in the wall with the bow or back up. Such logs may be straightened by making enough saw cuts in the upper side of the curved surface to allow them to straighten out. The cuts should be from one-third to one-half the depth of the log, or slightly more, if necessary (fig. 12). [Illustration: Figure 12.--Straightening a curved log.] WINDOW AND DOOR OPENINGS Early American log structures were characterized by relatively dark interiors because window openings, designed for protective purposes, were small and far apart. Since protection is no longer a consideration, window frames may be of standard size and located where they are most suitable for adequate day lighting. As soon as the first round of logs and the floor joists are laid in place, mark the location of door and window openings on the inside face. Next saw out the door openings and chop out the notch in the doorsill log to within an inch of the true or finished line, as shown in figure 13. Leave final cutting of the openings to the exact dimensions until the window and door frames are to be placed in position, thus insuring a good finished wood surface. Also, determine the height of the openings above the floor line and mark them in figures on the bottom log for reference from time to time. The necessary cuts should be made in the log directly over each opening before placing it in position. When the log which carries the window frame is reached, a notch must be made for it as for the doors. [Illustration: Figure 13.--Cutting window and door openings.] To provide the necessary doors and windows, openings must be cut in the walls after the logs have been placed in position. As soon as a log in the wall is cut in two, the problem arises of how to hold the loose ends in place. Also, the doors and windows require the proper kind of frames to insure airtight closure between the latter and the ends of the wall logs. The most practicable and satisfactory method is to frame a vertical notch in the ends of the wall logs, into which can be fitted a spline attached to the back of the jamb or side-pieces of the door and window frames. This method of framing holds the wall logs in place, allows them to shrink and settle without hindrance, and makes a weathertight joint between them and the door and window frames. The vertical notch in the end of the wall logs may be framed by boring a 2-inch auger hole in each log as it is laid in place. The hole should be located so that, when the wall logs are sawed out for the opening, the saw cut passes down through the edge of the hole nearest the opening. It is then a simple matter to frame the notch to take the spline. The inside face of the notch can be left rounded and the spline chamfered to fit. To keep the holes in line from log to log, use the plumb board illustrated in figure 14. [Illustration: Figure 14.--Method of marking openings.] WINDOW AND DOOR FRAMES There are two ways of making window and door frames--in three pieces (two side jambs and one head jamb), or in four pieces (two side jambs, one head jamb, and a sill piece). When a three-piece frame is used, the bottom log of the opening is cut or shaped to make the window or doorsill and the jamb pieces are then fitted to the sill. If the jambs are framed from pieces of log slabbed on two opposite sides, a presentable frame in keeping with the log character of the structure is obtained. The window or door face of the jamb pieces may be rabbeted for the windows and doors, respectively, or they may have separate wooden pieces, known as stops, nailed on. The spline on the back of the jamb may be rabbeted out, or a 2 inch by 2 inch piece of straight-grained wood nailed on. The head jamb can be framed in the same way; it does not require a spline on the back. Each side jamb has a dowel framed on each end. The bottom dowel fits into a mortise in the sill and the top dowel into a similar mortise in the head jamb. [Illustration: Figure 15.--Window frames.] In a four-piece frame, the sill log is cut with a slope, in the customary way, and the jambs are fitted as for a three-piece frame. Figure 15 illustrates the installation of three- and four-piece window frames. When the head jamb or top log over the opening is reached, the frames are ready for installation. The opening is now cut out, the sill fashioned, the vertical spline slot framed, and the head jamb log cut out to fit over the opening. At this point, the amount of settlement resulting from the shrinkage of the wall logs, as they dry out, must be determined and a corresponding allowance provided in the opening. This allowance is made between the upper side of the headpiece of the frame and the bottom of the log directly over the opening, and should be from 2-1/2 to 4 inches for a door 6 feet 8 inches to 7 feet in height, or 1-1/2 to 3 inches for an ordinary double hung window. The log over the opening should be notched out on the under side so that it can be dropped in place after the frame has been set in position. When the type of window or door frame here described is used, neither outside nor inside casings, sometimes called wood trim, are required. The logs selected for the jamb material should be from 2 to 3 inches larger in diameter than the wall logs, in order to fit properly. Also, they will be much easier to work if well-seasoned (fig. 16). [Illustration: Figure 16.--Log jamb window frame.] [Illustration: Figure 17.--Typical log-wall section, taken through window.] If standard mill work frames are used, false side jambs of sawed material, usually 2-inch planks, should be fitted in the openings to hold the logs in place. For a wall made of 10-inch logs, a plank 2 inches by 10 inches should be used for the jambs and the standard frame fitted in place between them after providing the necessary allowance for the wall logs to shrink or settle. The head casing ordinarily will cover the space allowed for shrinkage. Some kind of insulating material which will take compression, such as crumpled newspapers, asbestos wool fiber, or rock wool, may be used to fill the space over the head allowed for settlement. Insulating material must be installed loosely, so as not to take any weight as the headlog gradually settles. [Illustration: Figure 18.--Various ways of framing eaves. Despite the fact that sawed rafters, as shown above, are often used for convenience in framing the roof, sawed or milled material is incongruous in appearance in the exterior of log buildings Hence, pole rafters, hand-made shakes, and similar hand-riven features are preferred.] For the log-type frame, copper or galvanized steel flashing should be fastened to the bottom of the cut in the top log, leaving the lower edge of the flashing free to slide on the face of the log head jamb. As the wall settles, the bottom of the flashing can be trimmed off if too much of the face of the head jamb is covered. This makes a weathertight joint and protects the insulating material with which the shrinkage space has been filled. See figure 17, Head section. [Illustration: Figure 19.--Framing log purlins for shakes.] ROOF FRAMING Roofs may be framed in several ways, depending upon the kind of material available and the appearance desired. The framing for a shingle roof, whether of sawed material or round poles, is done in the same way as that of a frame building. The top log on the wall may be cut with a flat seat for the rafters to rest upon, as at _Y_, in figure 18, _A_ or notched out to receive them as at _Z_ in figure 18, _B_. The gable ends may be run up with the logs, which is preferable for architectural appearance, or framed like the gables of a frame structure, and then covered with wood siding, shingles, or shakes (fig. 19). The shingles may be laid over sheathing boards in the usual manner or on shingle strips placed across the roof rafters, parallel with the ridge and exactly spaced to receive them, commonly known as "barn-fashion." The particular method to be followed in framing the eaves depends largely upon their projection. Where the effect of a considerable overhang is desired, an eave purlin log may be used to support the projecting shakes as shown in figure 19, _A_. To support 30- to 36-inch long shakes having a 6-inch lap, the log purlins should be spaced at approximately 24-inch intervals, as in figure 19. In regions of heavy snows, the eave log may be placed slightly forward to help support the overhang, or an additional eave log may be placed in position, as shown in figure 19, _B_. The gable logs should be run up at the same time as the roof logs, and both rigidly framed together. [Illustration: Figure 20.--Splitting shakes with the froe.] Shake Roofs It is often desirable to use hand-split shakes for the roof covering. These are usually made from cedar, but may be of any straight-grained wood, free from knots, which splits easily. First, the logs are cut in lengths of 30 to 36 inches and then the shakes are split off with a tool called a froe (fig. 20). After the log cuts are set on end, the froe is held on the upper end of the block and then struck a blow with a wooden maul which causes a piece of the block or shake to split off. Being hand-split, the thickness varies somewhat; the minimum is 1/2 inch. A roof of thin shingles, lacking sufficient scale, is never as effective as a rough textured one, using 3/4- to 1-1/4-inch thick shakes, to harmonize with the sturdy appearance of the log walls. The width, normally 6 to 8 inches, is governed by the size of the blocks of wood and varies accordingly, while the length is governed by the spacing of the roof logs or purlins. Shakes are always laid on the purlins in single courses, lapping the sides 1-1/2 to 2 inches and over-lapping the ends at least 6 inches, as illustrated in figure 19. Nailing is usually done with six- or eight-penny galvanized box nails. Copper nails may be used for greater permanence. A good shake roof will not leak although from the inside of the building it may appear to have many holes. The ordinary, uninteresting, straight-line effect at the butts may be broken up by staggering them from 1 to 2 inches, as is often done with shingles. This method produces an effect more in keeping with the log walls. Although involving greater care and additional labor it is preferable, from an architectural point of view, to the more common custom of laying them to uniformly straight lines. At the ridge of the roof, where the shingles or shakes intersect, provisions must be made for weatherproofing. The shingled Boston ridge, comb intersection, or pole ridge, shown in figure 21 are practical and much more satisfactory from the standpoint of architectural effect than stock metal ridges, ridge boards, and other methods. [Illustration: Figure 21.--Ridge treatments.] PARTITIONS If the log building is to be divided into several rooms, at least two different methods may be used to construct the partition walls. If the log construction plan is to be carried throughout the structure by using interior log-wall partitions, these should be laid out and framed in, and the door openings cut in the same manner as previously described for exterior walls. If a log partition comes at a place in a cross wall where it is not considered desirable to have the log ends project into the room beyond the opposite face of the wall, they may be sawed off flush with the face of the cross wall, as shown at _X_, figure 22, Plan _A_. This will not weaken the joint since the logs are both pinned and locked in place. [Illustration: Figure 22.--Interior partitions.] Where frame partitions are used, they should be constructed as in a frame building. A gain or a 3- to 4-inch deep groove should be cut in the log wall into which the end studding of the frame partition is to be set (fig. 22, Plan _B_). The cut should be made in each log before it is placed in the wall. In no case should the studding at the ends of the partitions be nailed to the log walls which they intersect in order not to interfere with or be affected by their shrinkage and settlement. FLOORING A subfloor should be laid first using shiplap or sheathing. Over this a finished floor of such hardwoods as maple or oak, or the harder softwood species such as Douglas-fir, western larch, or southern pine, may be laid. Vertical grain and flat grain may be had in both softwood and hardwood, but the vertical grain shrinks and swells less than the flat, is more uniform in texture, wears more evenly, and the joints open much less. Finished flooring consists or tongue-and-groove material of various thicknesses and widths. Despite a slight tendency to splinter and wear irregularly over a period of years, plain wide planking of random-width boards makes an appropriate floor for a log building. An attractive effect may be had by using screws instead of nails, countersunk to a depth of 1/2 inch and concealed by inserting false wooden dowels glued in place as shown in figure 23, _B_. Keying the boards together with wood keys, at random along the edges, adds to the attractiveness of the flooring. INTERIOR WOOD FINISHING Hanging doors and windows, and many other customary details of building construction should be done in the usual manner in building with logs. Whenever cupboards or other built-in units are constructed, they must be framed to be independent or entirely free of the log walls, like the furniture. However, such fixtures as lavatories may be attached to two adjacent logs without any subsequent structural complications. [Illustration: Figure 23.--Flooring. _A_, Plain tongue and groove; _B_, random-width planking.] CALKING When round logs are laid up in a wall there is always an opening between them unless they are grooved on the under side to saddle the one below, as described later under chinkless log cabin construction. In exterior walls, this opening, or crack, must be closed in order to make the structure weathertight. There are several methods of doing this. If the logs are reasonably straight and uniform in size and the corners carefully made, the opening between them will be small, often barely perceptible. When this is the case, the openings should be filled with some sort of calking compound applied with either a pressure gun or a trowel (fig. 24). [Illustration: Figure 24.--Examples of tight joints well calked. _A_, Interior calking; _B_, exterior calking.] In recent years several kinds of calking material have been put on the market. They are applied best with a gun having a pressure-release trigger whereby the calking compound is forced through a nozzle made in various shapes and sizes to meet different requirements. These calking compounds are not adversely affected by heat or cold, retain their natural flexibility, and have an adhesive property which causes them to adhere to the surface to which they are applied. A good plastic compound will adhere to the logs under all conditions and can be patched easily by simply applying more material. A black fiber seal is not objectionable and, at the same time, gives a practical finish. The seal should be applied to both sides of the exterior and interior log walls, producing an almost hermetically sealed building. When applied with a pressure gun having a 3/8-inch nozzle, 1 gallon will fill about 300 linear feet of opening. If applied in cold weather, the material should be heated to a temperature of 60°F. CHINKING When using logs that are somewhat rough and irregular in shape, the resulting space between them may be so large that the calking material cannot be used satisfactorily to fill the opening. In such cases, it will be necessary to insert "chinking," which usually is applied to the interior and exterior walls in one of two ways: 1. _Split chinking._--Segments of a log are split out in sizes which fit the opening and, after being carefully shaped with the ax to make a tight fit, are securely nailed in position. This kind of chinking requires considerable work and patience to secure a good appearance. 2. _Pole chinking._--Small round poles may be used to fill the openings (fig. 25). Usually they are cut in sizes and lengths to fill the opening from wall to wall. This sort of chinking may be applied rapidly to either inside or outside walls and makes a neater job than the preceding method. Unless the logs are thoroughly seasoned these small poles sometimes have a tendency to pull away from the nails. When the chinking has been completed, the openings will have been reduced sufficiently in width to allow the calking material to be applied successfully. [Illustration: Figure 25.--Pole chinking.] It is always a serious problem in log construction to devise a practical method for permanently fastening the plaster daubing in place on both inside and outside walls. In some instances, shingle nails may be driven into the logs 2 to 3 inches apart for the full length of the opening or 2-inch wide strips of metal lath may be used and the plaster applied to fill it. Cattle hair may be added to the plaster to increase its adhesive consistency and thereby hold it more rigidly in place. Sometimes, wood strips are nailed on the lower log to hold the plaster in position, as shown in figure 26, but they are unsightly. [Illustration: Figure 26.--Wood daubing strips.] CHINKLESS LOG CABIN CONSTRUCTION Chinkless construction, associated with the building of log structures in Scandinavian countries, eliminates the chinking and mudding so prevalent in many log buildings. It consists of grooving the under side of every log in each tier so that it saddles the log beneath, making a close joint for its entire length. The groove is marked by a tool which, for convenience, may be called a cabin scribe or a drag (fig. 27). _Directions for chinkless log cabin construction._---Mark and cut out the notch just as is done for a round-notch corner. Next, dog the log in place and scribe, making the additional mark shown by dash line (_X_, fig. 27). Then, cut to line and, finally, drop log in position. The scribe is 12 inches long, made preferably of 3/8-inch square steel or iron bent in much the same manner as the spring in a steel trap; the two ends are turned down about 1-1/2 inches like two fingers, diverging to about 3/4 of an inch at the points, and then sharpened with a flat surface on the inside of the point toward the loop. The loop should be hammered out thin to provide sufficient flexibility to allow the points to spread or close easily. A ring is welded around the two halves of the tool which, when slipped up or down, makes it possible to adjust the points and thereby prevent any further spreading while the tool is in use. A link from a small chain, placed over the legs before the points are turned, will serve the same purpose and, to prevent the points from springing together, a small piece of wood may be forced between them. [Illustration: Figure 27.--Chinkless log cabin construction.] To fit a log, first frame it at the ends and then fit it down to within about 2 inches of the lower log where the opening is the widest It is difficult to do a good job of scribing when the logs are too close together. The scribe must then be adjusted at the point where the opening is the widest so that, when holding the tool parallel to the opening, the lower point of the scribe will ride on the surface of the bottom log. By exerting sufficient pressure, the upper point will score the top log. Repeat this operation to score the upper log on the other side. The corner tenons must be marked likewise. Next, turn the log over, work the tenons down and then cut a =V=-shaped groove to the marked lines in the remaining portion of the log, using a double-bitted ax. This groove should be cut deep enough along its center to permit the outer edge of the groove to rest continuously on the lower log. By removing the least amount of wood to make the smallest possible groove, the closest fit is obtained with the least effort. [Illustration: Figure 28.--Fine example of milled-log construction--ranger's dwelling, Whitman National Forest, Oreg.] The principle of the scribe is based on parallel lines, and it can readily be seen that if there is a hump on the lower log there will have to be a gouge in the upper one. When the work is done carefully, the space remaining is negligible. Where an airtight wall is desired, a strip of plumber's oakum should be laid on the bottom log before the upper log is dropped into place. If this material is not available, dry moss is a fairly practical substitute. Milled-Log Construction Sometimes it is feasible to take advantage of a portable mill to face the logs on three sides rather than to hew them by hand. The level beds seat the logs so well that calking is minimized, the smooth interior surfaces permit of easy finishing, particularly where wood wainscoting or plaster is used, while the round-log exterior effect is undisturbed, except where the logs project at the corners. Figure 28 illustrates a structure built in this way. HEWING TIMBERS The facing or hewing of round timbers to obtain one or two sides surfaced flat for framing purposes, as shown in figure 29, requires considerable skill in the use of the ax and broadax. There are, however, a number of mechanical aids (fig. 30) which should be used by anyone undertaking log construction in order to simplify the work as much as possible. The carpenter's spirit level, the steel square, and chalk line and chalk are necessary for laying off the lines to be followed in hewing timbers. In framing logs they should be laid up on skids, or sawhorses, dogged fast in place with iron dogs, and the dimensions laid off on each end of the log with the level and square to insure that the lines are parallel to each other. Then, with the chalk line, carefully snap lines on the side of the log connecting corresponding points at each end. For squaring the ends of a log and cutting pole rafters, use the miter box to guide the saw. To measure lengths accurately the steel tape, or a board pattern cut to the exact length, may be used. FIREPLACE FRAMING The living-room fireplace, invariably the most prominent interior feature, harmonizes best with a log interior if built of stone and provided with a crude log shelf. The fireplace itself may be either the traditional masonry type or the more modern metal-lined one equipped with a heatilator. The masonry of the fireplace and its chimney should always start on solid earth, below the frost line, like the foundations of the building itself. Masonry does not settle, unlike the surrounding log construction. Consequently, it is recommended that a self-supporting log framing be built around and entirely free of the masonry of the fireplace and chimney, as illustrated in figure 31. The opening should be framed in the same way as window and door openings. The fireplace and chimney masonry should not be erected until the opening has been framed for it. Upon completion, the intersection between the stone and wood should be thoroughly calked to make an airtight, weatherproof job. This method allows the wall logs to settle, because of the unavoidable shrinkage, without structural failure. [Illustration: Figure 29.--Framing hewed timbers.] [Illustration: Figure 30.--Mechanical aids in cutting timbers. Method: Cut both miter boxes at angle _X_ for 1/3 pitch. Fasten them securely to the floor or to a log, used as a sawhorse, and space exactly the required distance apart to insure that all rafters are cut alike. Then place each rafter in the boxes, back down if any curvature exists, dog rigidly in place and saw to the pattern. Line A represents the exterior wall face and, if sawed off on line _B_, parallel with the wall face, overhang of eave will be 1 foot, 6 inches. Any desired overhang may be had and sawing eliminated by fixing the distance _C_. The irregularly hewed rafter end is preferable to the uniform elliptical saw-cut ends. Finally, hew the upper surface of the rafters to a smooth even bearing to receive the roof sheathing boards.] [Illustration: Figure 31.--Framing around the fireplace. Framing logs around fireplace and chimney varies with the effect desired: (1) By using an exposed vertical slabbed log and spline, as at _A_, with space _X_, to allow for the shrinkage settling of the logs above the mantel, or (2) by using a concealed vertical slabbed log and spline, as at _B_, where the masonry is exposed above the mantel.] [Illustration: Figure 32.--A useful type of modern log dwelling--ranger station, Gallatin National Forest, Mont.] In building an ordinary fireplace, the firebox and inner hearth should be made of firebrick to withstand intense heat and the various parts proportioned in accordance with standard practice to insure efficient operation.[1] [1] For this purpose the following publication will be found useful: Farmers' Bulletin 1889, Fireplaces and Chimneys. The heatilator is a built-in recirculating steel unit consisting of metal sides and back to form a heating chamber, adjacent to the fire pit, which draws cold air through a register at each side near the floor and after the air is heated ejects it through similar registers above. It should be installed in conformity with the manufacturer's directions, taking care to select a stock-size unit suitable for the dimensions of the fireplace opening and to erect the surrounding masonry accordingly. OILING AND PAINTING After all the openings have been properly calked and the logs brushed clean, it is often desirable, although not absolutely necessary, to treat the log surfaces with some sort of preservative material. Logwood oil is excellent for the exterior. The colorless variety is preferable in most cases but, if some color is desired, add just enough burnt umber, or raw sienna paste, to give the proper shade. For interior finish, apply a coat of clear shellac and then one or two coats of dull varnish. The trim can be treated in a similar manner to preserve the pleasing effect produced by the natural surface and color of the wood. THE FINISHED STRUCTURE Examples of modern log construction are shown in figures 32, 33, and 34. Early types of log structures are illustrated in figure 35. [Illustration: Figure 33.--Modern structures showing effective use of log construction in recreation buildings on national forests in Montana. _A_, Dude ranch; _B_ and _C_, recreational and mess hall, Seely Lake.] [Illustration: Figure 34.--Organization camp at Seely Lake showing log work In greater detail. _A_, Entrance wing; _B_, cabin group. Note the wedges under porch post to provide for settling of walls. Wedges are gradually driven out as necessary.] [Illustration: Figure 35.--Early types of log structures built by the U. S. Forest Service in the West. _A_, Ranger station, Gallatin National Forest, Mont.; _B_, ranger's dwelling, Nezperce National Forest, Idaho; _C_, log cabin in Arizona.] FURNITURE The matter of interior furnishings is always of great concern to those who build log cabins. Odds and ends or too many "what-nots" may prove to be misfits. Pieces of Early American design are perhaps the most appropriate ready-made furniture, but sturdy, rustic pieces yield the greatest satisfaction. Many cabin owners have found a great deal of pleasure in making essential furniture, such as bunks, beds, tables, chairs, settees, and similar items. In the East, birch is preferred as a material, and in the West, lodgepole pine is most satisfactory. Other native species, however, will do just as well. In making furniture it is advisable to remove the bark from the logs because bark collects insects, causes the wood to deteriorate and eventually falls off, leaving imperfect, unsightly surfaces. Figures 36 and 37 show types of furniture suitable for log residences. For rustic effects, the use of a stain of the following proportions gives a satisfactory appearance: 2 quarts turpentine, 2 quarts raw linseed oil, and 1 pint liquid drier, to which add 1/2 pint of raw sienna, 1/2 pint of burnt umber, and a touch of burnt sienna. The top surfaces of tables, buffets, chests, and rawhide seats should have two coats of spar varnish. Where countersunk screws are used in connection with a stain finish, insert false wood, dowel-like plugs in preference to plastic wood to conceal the screwheads. Simplicity, both in construction and appearance, is the keynote for producing the most harmonious effects in furniture, in keeping with log interiors. Chairs and Stools Armchairs can be built with well-seasoned lodgepole or eastern pine, or birch (fig. 38). The cornerpieces should be mortised and tenoned to the frame and rail and anchored in place with 3/8- by 15-inch lag screws. The arms should be fastened to the cornerpieces with 3/8- by 5-inch carriage bolts and to the slab support with 3/8- by 4-inch lag screws. The vertical slab support should be rigidly secured to the frame with 3/8- by 3-inch carriage bolts. Cushions may be of the filler type, without springs, and covered with homespun fabric. Use 2-inch wide heavy canvas strips, securely fastened with furniture tacks, to support the cushions. Upright chairs and stools (fig. 39) can be made from the same material as the armchair. Cross the poles to impale the legs rigidly. The crosspieces of the chair back should be curved to fit the human back. The joints must be tightly glued, mortised, and tenoned. [Illustration: Figure 36.--Furniture suitable for log cabins--convenient, sturdy, and easy to make. _A_, Bed; _B_, bed and armchair.] [Illustration: Figure 37.--_A_, Dining table appropriate for log cabin; _B_, book rack and hod.] [Illustration: Figure 38.--Plan for making an armchair suitable for log residence.] [Illustration: Figure 39.--Plan for making an upright chair and stool.] [Illustration: Figure 40.--Plan for making a double bed for log residence.] Bed and Bunk Birch or well-seasoned lodgepole or eastern pine is suitable for making a bed or bunk. In making a bed (fig. 40) the crosspieces should impale the corner posts tightly; the joints should be glued and toe-nailed from below. Do not cut the side or end pieces until the bedspring has been measured and then allow for a slight play in both directions in setting the angle irons, in order to facilitate the insertion and removal of the mattress. Use 14- by 3-inch carriage bolts to fasten the angle irons to the wood frame. Figure 40 is a plan for making a double bed 5 for a single bed, reduce the width accordingly. A double-deck bunk is made in much the same way as a bed (fig. 41). [Illustration: Figure 41.--Plan for building a double-deck bunk.] [Illustration: Figure 42.--Plan for making a combination chest and buffet.] Chest and Buffet No log residence is complete without furniture for storing clothes. A combination chest and buffet suitable for log cabins can be made from well-seasoned lodgepole or eastern pine, tamarack, or birch (fig. 42). The ends, doors, shelves, and drawer fronts should be cut from No. 2 tongue-and-groove commercial pine lumber. Settee A settee can be made from well-seasoned pine or birch (fig. 43). Join the corner poles to the slab frame and rail with mortise-and-tenon joints; then anchor the joints by means of 3/8- by 6 -inch lag screws. Fasten the arms to the corner poles with 3/8- by 5-inch carriage bolts and to the slab support with 3/8- by 4-inch lag screws. Use 3/8- by 3-inch carriage bolts to fasten the slab support to the frame. The 1- by 2-inch hardwood crosspieces should be securely fastened at the top ends and notched into the legs at the bottom ends, held by 2-inch wood screws, driven into place at an angle. Back slats should be mortised and tenoned to the rail and frame. The cushions should be the filler type, without springs if so desired, and covered with homespun fabric. [Illustration: Figure 43.--Plan for making a living-room settee.] [Illustration: Figure 44.--Dining table plan.] [Illustration: Figure 45.--Plan for making benches.] Dining Table Peeled pine or birch is ideal material for building a dining table (fig. 44). Make a tight saddle joint between _B_ and the legs. Cross poles to impale the legs tightly. Notch _E_ for the cross poles. Upper surface of _C_ should be slab-faced and fitted between _D_ and cross poles, all rigidly braced together. Top pieces of tables should be doweled at places indicated in the drawing with 1/2- by 4-inch wood dowels, glued and clamped to insure tight joints. Notch top pieces A 1-inch deep to receive _B_ and _D_. Top outside edges of _A_, _C,_ and _E_ should be hewed. [Illustration: Figure 46.--Plan for a book rack.] Table, Bench, Book Rack, and Wood Hod Well-seasoned lodgepole or eastern pine, tamarack, cedar, or birch are suitable for benches (fig. 45). The joints should be glued. Countersink any screws, then conceal the heads with false wooden dowel-like plugs. If the furniture is to be painted, use plastic wood. A book rack may be made of the same material used for the bench, except cedar, which is unsuitable (fig. 46). The sides and bottom shelf should be rabbeted and thoroughly glued. The two intermediate shelves can be made adjustable by boring 3 holes in each side-piece 2 inches apart, above and below the position shown for the shelves in figure 46, into which loose wooden pins may be inserted for their support. Screw the top in place, countersink screwheads and insert wood cover plugs or false dowels for concealment where stained finish is used. If painted, plastic wood may be used. [Illustration: Figure 47.--Plan for a fireplace wood hod.] A fireplace wood hod (fig. 47) may be made of wood and metal. Use well-seasoned lodgepole or eastern pine, tamarack, or birch. Make a tight cradle joint between horizontal and vertical side-pieces, using 14- by 2-inch carriage bolts except that by 3-inch lag screws should be used for fastening the lower side-pieces and bottom. Secure the wrought-iron handle to each side toppiece with 3- by 1-1/2-inch carriage bolts. The wood sides should have hewed edges of 3/4 inch minimum thickness. [Illustration: Figure 48.--Floor plan for a four-room log residence.] BUILDING PLANS Selection of the site and preparation of building plans varies with individual taste. In choosing a location one must consider availability of transportation, shopping centers, water supply, sewage disposal, electric facilities, and kindred factors. [Illustration: Figure 49.--Floor plan for a four-room log residence with somewhat different orientation than that shown in figure 48.] Before undertaking construction it may be desirable to consult an architect or competent builder to make sure that (1) your desires are satisfied with respect to the necessary accommodations; (2) rules and regulations enforced by local authorities will be observed; and (3) provisions are made for installing telephone, electricity, water, and plumbing facilities. Failure to take these precautions may necessitate costly changes after construction has begun. Plans for suitable four-room log residences are given in figures 48 and 49, and for a five-room structure in figure 50. Figure 51 shows the layout of a United States Forest Service two-room guard cabin adaptable for summer residence use. [Illustration: Figure 50.--Floor plan for a five-room log residence, including three bedrooms, living-room, kitchen, and two porches.] [Illustration: Figure 51.--U. S. Forest Service two-room fireguard cabin adaptable for summer residence use.] ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Additional useful information on building log cabins may be obtained from the following publications: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FIREPLACES AND CHIMNEYS. Farmers' Bul. 1889, 52 pp., illus. 1940. PROTECTION OF LOG CABINS, RUSTIC WORK, AND UNSEASONED WOOD FROM INJURIOUS INSECTS. Farmers' Bul. 1582, 20 pp., illus. 1929. USE OF LOGS AND POLES IN FARM CONSTRUCTION. Farmers' Bul. 1660, 26 pp., illus. 1931. OTHER SOURCES LOG BUILDINGS. Wis. Agr. Col. Ext. Stencil Cir. 158, 39 pp., illus. 1940. LOG CABIN CONSTRUCTION. A. B. Bowman. Mich. State Col. Ext. Bul. 222, 54 pp., illus. 1941. LOG CABINS AND COTTAGES; HOW TO BUILD AND FURNISH THEM. W. A. Bruette, ed. 96 pp., illus. New York. THE REAL LOG CABIN. C. D. Aldrich. 278 pp., illus. 1934. New York. SHELTERS, SHACKS, AND SHANTIES. D. C. Beard. 243 pp., illus 1932. New York. U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1954 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C. -- Price 25 cents * * * * * TO KEEP THE TREES GROWING Here in the United States we are cutting trees faster than new ones are growing for the future. And because science is showing us how to use wood better and in new ways we are likely to want more trees in the future than we use today. In fact we must double the annual growth of usable wood. This can't be done easily or quickly. It will require decades of good forestry. So we must take steps now-- To protect all our forests well from fire, insects, and disease; To stop wasteful and destructive cutting; To keep plenty of trees of all sizes growing to replace those we cut; To restore commercial tree growth on millions of acres of forests that have been badly treated or burned; To give farmers and other small owners more help in growing, harvesting, and marketing their tree crops; To put wild land into public forests when private owners cannot take care of it or the public interest calls for special treatment. * * * * * Transcriber Notes All illustrations were moved so as to not split paragraphs. 
37928	----	GAS BURNERS OLD AND NEW. GAS BURNERS OLD AND NEW. A Historical and Descriptive Treatise ON THE PROGRESS OF INVENTION IN GAS LIGHTING; EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE THEORY OF LUMINOUS COMBUSTION. BY "OWEN MERRIMAN." _Reprinted from the_ JOURNAL OF GAS LIGHTING. London: WALTER KING, 11, BOLT COURT, FLEET STREET, E. C. 1884. W. KING AND SELL, PRINTERS, 12, GOUGH SQUARE, FLEET STREET, LONDON. Transcriber's Note: Figure 11 and Figure 12 are identical. PREFACE. The little work here presented to the public appeared originally in the pages of the _Journal of Gas Lighting_. In the hope that it may thereby become of service to a wider circle of readers, it has been revised and done into its present shape. The object of the writer will be attained if it is the means of lessening, in any degree, the suspicion and prejudice (born of ignorance) which, alas! yet prevail with regard to gas and gas lighting. CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTION 9 THE FIRST GAS-BURNER 13 THE BATSWING BURNER 15 THE UNION-JET OR FISHTAIL BURNER 17 HOW LIGHT IS PRODUCED FROM COAL GAS 20 IMPROVEMENTS IN FLAT-FLAME BURNERS 25 BRÖNNER'S BURNERS 31 THE HOLLOW-TOP BURNER 35 BRAY'S BURNERS 38 ARGAND BURNERS 44 SUGG'S ARGANDS 48 THE DOUGLASS BURNER 52 GOVERNOR BURNERS 55 REGENERATIVE BURNERS 61 INCANDESCENT BURNERS 73 CONCLUSION 79 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. [Sidenote: Gas consumers and gas producers.] The subject of gas-burners and the development of light from coal gas is of considerable interest, alike to the consumer and the producer of gas. When it is known that one burner may develop twice as much light as another, for the same consumption of gas--the first cost of the one being no higher than that of the other--its importance to the former will scarcely be disputed. To the gas consumer it is obviously of great value to know how he may most effectively and economically develop the illuminating power of the gas which is supplied to him; and so obtain the fullest return, in lighting effect, for the money which he expends. Not quite so obvious is its relation to the latter. To a person totally unacquainted with the recent history of gas lighting, and ignorant of the policy which has guided the most prosperous gas undertakings to their successful issues, it may appear that the manufacturer of gas is not closely concerned with the utilization of the commodity which he supplies. Such an one might argue, and with a certain show of reason, that the sole business of the gas maker is with its production; that after providing, in the consumer's service-pipe, a full and continuous supply of gas, of the stipulated quality, his care ends; and that henceforth the utilization and management of the illuminant rests with the consumer himself. But, by any one who is at all conversant with the subject, it will be readily conceded that the interest of the manufacturer of gas, in this matter, is only second to that of the consumer. In the gas industry, as in any other business undertaking, the concern prospers or declines according as the interests of the customers are considered or neglected. This has been conclusively demonstrated in the history of many gas undertakings. So long as their management was conducted in exclusive and selfish regard solely to their own internal affairs--looking with supreme indifference or careless apathy upon the needs of the consumers--so long was their career marked by difficulties and embarrassments. No sooner, however, were the claims of the consumers recognized, and efforts put forth to further their interests, than the prospects of the concern brightened; and by adhering to, and extending the same line of action, the goal of commercial prosperity was eventually reached. Seeing, therefore, that the subject is of so supreme importance to consumers of gas, and that the interests of the consumer are closely interwoven with those of the manufacturer, it is eminently desirable that there should be more generally diffused a correct knowledge of the principles of economical gas consumption, and of the extent to which these principles are applied in the various burners which, from time to time, have been invented. No further apology ought therefore to be required in presenting to the reader the following disquisition on gas-burners. It may, however, be of advantage for me to state in brief, at the commencement, what are the objects I have in view, and what the chief considerations which have led me to write this treatise. [Sidenote: Waste of gas.] I purpose, then, to tell of the progress that has been made in apparatus for the development of light from coal gas; to relate how the crude and imperfect devices of the early inventors have been gradually improved upon; and, while not ignoring the drawbacks connected with recently invented burners, or the defects inherent to their construction, to show, in the superior achievements of these burners, how great an advance has been made upon the apparatus formerly in use. It will be, also, my endeavour to make plain the little understood phenomenon of the production of light by the combustion of coal gas; and to show the extent to which the illuminating power developed is dependent upon the burner employed. That there is need for such information as I propose to furnish must be sufficiently obvious to any one who has considered the waste of gas which takes place through ignorance of the laws of its combustion, and through the use of defective burners. In a report presented to the Board of Trade by the London Gas Referees in 1871, it was stated that a number of burners had been tested, taken from various places of business in the Metropolis; the major portion of which gave out only one-half, and some of them not more than one-fourth, of the illuminating power capable of being developed from the gas. Although, since the time that report was penned, considerable progress has been made in the construction of burners, and in the more general adoption of efficient burners by the public, much yet remains to be done. Doubtless it would still be within the mark to assert that fully one-fifth of the gas consumed by the public might be saved by the adoption of better burners, and by the observance of the conditions necessary for their satisfactory operation; and when it is borne in mind that the gas-rental of the United Kingdom amounts to a sum of certainly not less than £9,000,000 per annum, the saving which might be effected assumes truly great proportions. The field on which I propose to enter can hardly be said to be already occupied. Nowhere that I know of is the subject of gas-burners fully treated of in a manner available for the general reader. With the exception of the admirable chapter contributed by Mr. R. H. Patterson to "King's Treatise on Coal Gas," I am not aware that the subject has been dealt with to any complete extent by recent writers. But, admirable as is that contribution to the literature of the subject, being written for technical readers, it is neither so popular in style nor so elementary in character as to fulfil the purpose which I have in view in writing the present series of articles. Briefly stated, my sole purpose is to make the subject of the combustion of gas for the production of light intelligible to the simplest; and to present an interesting account of the progress of invention in the perfection of gas-burners. While passing lightly over many modifications of apparatus which have been of but limited or temporary service, I shall not scruple to dwell at length upon such burners as have done much to further the extension of gas lighting, or whose construction exhibits a considerable advance upon previous attainments. And while it will be my endeavour to clothe my remarks in such language as shall be "understanded of the people," in speaking of the theory of combustion I hope to be sufficiently explicit to enable my readers to form a clear conception of the scientific principles underlying the phenomena of which I treat. [Sidenote: Progress of gas lighting.] A further justification--if such, indeed, were needed--for the appearance of this treatise might be found in the remarkable impetus which has been given, within recent years, to the perfection of the details of gas manufacture and the improvement of gas-burners. Of course, I refer to the beneficial consequences to the gas industry which have followed the brief, if conspicuous, career of electricity as an illuminating agent. That the interest in improved illumination which has been aroused by the short-lived popularity of the electric light, and the extravagant claims put forward on its behalf, have stimulated to the development of the resources of gas lighting, is sufficiently obvious to the most superficial observer. And not only has the manufacturer of gas been benefited, but the public have reaped no inconsiderable advantage. At the present day, gas is sold at a far cheaper rate, as well as of a higher quality, than at any former period. Nor is the advent of cheap gas the only direction in which the public have gained. Although not so patent to the majority, the improvements that have been effected in the methods of burning gas, so as to obtain the fullest advantage from its use, are calculated to confer benefits equally real, and not less valuable. It is hardly too much to say that the last few years have witnessed a greater advance in the apparatus employed in the combustion of gas than had been effected during the whole previous history of gas lighting. This being so, it may not be unacceptable if I attempt to pass in review some of the various burners that have been invented and used for obtaining light from coal gas; showing the successive improvements that are exhibited in their construction, and the extent to which they apply the principles of combustion. It may be that what I have to relate will awaken some minds to the consciousness that gas lighting has not altogether retired into obscurity on the advent of electricity--nay, that it has even assumed a bolder front; and, with increased resources and accession of strength, is prepared firmly to maintain its position as at once the most convenient, economical, and reliable of artificial illuminants. CHAPTER II. FLAT-FLAME BURNERS. THE FIRST GAS-BURNER. The first gas-burner was a very simple and unpretentious contrivance. In one of the earliest works on gas lighting[1] we read: "The extremities of the pipes have small apertures, out of which the gas issues; and the streams of gas, being lighted at those apertures, burn with a clear and steady flame as long as the supply of gas continues." Familiar as it is to us, and from its familiarity unnoticed, the phenomenon presented by the flame thus produced continuing to burn "as long as the supply of gas continued," was doubtless, to the first experimenters, a wonderful sight. Though we may smile at the question, it is not difficult to understand the incredulity of the honourable member who, when Murdock was examined before a Committee of the House of Commons, in 1809, asked the witness: "Do you mean to tell us that it will be possible to have a light _without a wick_?" "Yes; I do indeed," replied Murdock. "Ah, my friend," replied the member, "you are trying to prove too much." [1] Accum's "Treatise on Gas-Lights." Third edition, 1816. [Sidenote: The dawn of gas lighting.] It was but natural, seeing that oil-lamps and candles were the only forms of artificial illumination in use prior to the introduction of gas lighting, that the earliest attempts at illumination by gas should be in imitation of the effects produced by those means. Accordingly we find that one of the first gas-burners employed was the Argand, modelled upon the oil-lamp of that name, which had been found to give superior results; while in more general use, and for some time almost the sole apparatus available, were single jets, giving a flame similar in appearance to that of a common candle, together with various combinations of these jets. A fair idea of the mode of illumination practised during the earliest period of gas lighting may be gleaned from the following extract from a paper describing the lighting of Messrs. Phillips and Lee's cotton-mill at Manchester, read before the Royal Society, in 1808, by Mr. William Murdock:-- The gas-burners are of two kinds. The one is upon the principle of the Argand lamp, and resembles it in appearance; the other is a small curved tube with a conical end, having three circular apertures or perforations, of about 1-30th of an inch in diameter, one at the point of the cone, and two lateral ones, through which the gas issues, forming three divergent jets of flame, somewhat like a fleur-de-lis. The shape and general appearance of this tube has procured for it, among the workmen, the name of the "cockspur" burner. [Illustration: FIG. 1.--EARLY GAS-BURNERS. (From Accum's "Treatise on Gas-Lights.")] Nor was much advance made upon these arrangements down to the year 1816, judging from Accum's "Treatise" (before cited), as the subjoined extract from that work, together with the above illustrations, will show:-- The burners are formed in various ways--either a tube ending with a simple orifice, at which the gas issues in a stream, and if once lighted will continue to burn with the most steady and regular light imaginable, as long as the gas is supplied; or two concentric tubes of brass or sheet iron are placed at a distance of a small fraction of an inch from each other, and closed at the bottom. The gas which enters between these cylinders, when lighted, forms an Argand lamp, which is supplied by an internal and external current of air in the usual manner. Or the two concentric tubes are closed at the top with a ring, having small perforations, out of which the gas can issue; thus forming small distinct streams of light. It is interesting, in view of the present demand for increased illumination, and for burners of high illuminating power, to note the amount of light produced by the burners then in use. In Mr. Murdock's paper we find it stated that each of the Argands in use at Messrs. Phillips and Lee's establishment gave "a light equal to that of 4 candles (mould candles of 6 to the pound);" and each of the cockspurs "a light equal to 2-1/4 of the same candles." From which meagre results we conclude that, besides being burnt in an ignorant and wasteful manner, the gas consumed was wofully deficient in illuminating power. THE BATSWING BURNER. [Sidenote: Who invented the batswing burner?] A notable advance was made when the batswing burner was invented. To whom we are indebted for this invention seems involved in some doubt. Although Clegg, in the historical introduction to his valuable work,[2] says, very distinctly, that "the batswing burner was introduced by a Mr. Stone, an intelligent workman employed by Mr. Winsor," it is not so much as mentioned by Accum, even in the third edition of his "Treatise;" and Accum, it may be remarked, was for some time closely associated with Winsor in the promotion of the latter's ambitious and visionary schemes. Yet, if Clegg's statement be correct, it would almost appear to fix the date of the introduction of this burner as prior to 1816. But to whomsoever is due the credit of its invention, certain is it that the batswing burner was a considerable improvement upon the old cockspur. Producing a better light for the gas consumed, it assisted to demonstrate still further the superiority of gas lighting over other methods of illumination; and as it could be supplied at a trifling cost, and contained no delicately adjusted nor easily injured parts, it enabled the benefits of the new method of lighting to be extended to wherever artificial light was required. [2] Clegg's "Treatise on Coal Gas," 1841, p. 21. [Illustration: FIG. 2.--BATSWING BURNER.] [Sidenote: Superiority of the batswing over the cockspur burner.] From the cockspur and single jet burners the gas ascended in streams, rising into the air until it came in contact with sufficient oxygen to completely consume it. In order that this might take place without producing a flame of an inordinate length, and without much smoke, the orifices were restricted to a very small size; and the gas issuing from these at considerable pressure tended to draw in, and mix with the air in its course. Besides the loss of illuminating power caused by this mixture of air with the gas flame (similar to what takes place in a Bunsen burner), the cooling influence upon the small body of flame of the mass of metal composing the burner, operated still further to reduce the quantity of light which the gas was calculated to yield. With the batswing the gas was spread out producing, when ignited, a thin sheet of flame, by which means the gas was enabled to combine more readily with the air necessary to effect complete combustion. The size of the flame being, in comparison with that of the cockspur, so much larger proportionately to the metal burner, the cooling effect of the latter was not so apparent. The increased size of flame, also, of itself, tended to improve the illuminating power; each portion of flame contributing to elevate and sustain the temperature of the whole, and so to heighten the intensity of incandescence to which the light-giving particles were raised. [Sidenote: Batswing and Argand burners compared.] Even with the Argands of that day, the batswing compared not unfavourably. The former burner, having the regulation of its air supply under complete control, gives the best results when the gas is supplied to it at a low pressure; as then the requisite quantity of air to ensure complete combustion of the gas can be delicately adjusted by means of a chimney of suitable length. When the gas and air have been nicely adjusted to each other, the flame becomes extremely sensitive to any change of pressure in the gas supply; a diminution of the supply, by reducing the quantity of gas issuing from the burner without at the same time proportionately diminishing the supply of air, tends to destroy the illuminating power by the cooling action of the surplus air; while an increased pressure, by allowing more gas to issue than the air can consume, causes the flame to smoke. But at the time to which I now refer the principles of combustion were little understood, still less applied in the construction of burners. Besides this, the pressure of the gas in the mains was excessive; and there being no method adopted of controlling it at the burner, the construction of a good Argand was, under the circumstances, almost impossible. The batswing was not so prejudicially affected by an excess of pressure. Pressure to some extent was, indeed, required to enable the flame to attain its normal shape; while any excess forced the gas through the flame without permitting it to be raised to incandescence before being consumed, and although necessitating loss of light, caused no inconvenience like a smoking flame. Another important advantage which the batswing possessed over the Argand burner was its simplicity of construction; and the absence of accessories, such as the glass chimney--dispensing with the cleaning and attention which the latter required. Had the benefits of gas lighting been dependent upon the use of apparatus so fragile, and requiring so much care and attention as the Argand, the range of its applicability must have been considerably limited, and its prospects of commercial success much less assured. The introduction of a series of cheap but effective burners, however, altered the conditions of gas lighting, and marked the commencement of a new era in artificial illumination. The possibility of obtaining, by means of a burner so simple and apparently insignificant as the batswing, results little, if at all, inferior to what could be obtained by the use of the most complicated and expensive, was of advantage alike to the consumer and the producer of gas. To the former it gave the benefits of an increased illumination, without requiring any corresponding outlay; to the latter it promised a growing extension of the use of coal gas, and thus furnished the surest guarantee of future progress and prosperity. THE UNION-JET, OR FISHTAIL BURNER. [Sidenote: Who invented the union-jet burner?] The batswing had been for some years in extensive use before a burner was produced worthy in any degree to compare with it in respect to simplicity and efficiency. The invention of the union-jet, or fishtail burner, furnished a competitor equally simple; little, if at all, inferior as regards efficiency; and, to some extent, superior to the former burner in general adaptability. Although so much behind in point of time, the new burner speedily rivalled the older batswing in popular favour; and in its various modifications and improvements may be said, without fear of contradiction, to have received a wider application than any other gas-burner. As in the case of the batswing, so with regard to this burner: few details are recorded of its invention. But, slight as is the information available, such as we have is more satisfactory and more authentic than the meagre notice of Clegg, which is all that is known of the invention of the former burner. It appears to be established beyond doubt that the union-jet is the joint invention of Mr. James B. Neilson, the inventor of the hot-blast, and Mr. James Milne, of Glasgow, founder of the engineering firm of Milne and Son. About the year 1820, or soon after (as in that year Mr. Neilson was appointed Manager of the Glasgow Gas-Works), these gentlemen were experimenting with gas-burners, when they discovered that by allowing two jets of gas, of equal size, to impinge upon each other at a certain angle, a flat-flame was produced, with increased light. This was the origin of the union-jet; so called from the manner in which the flame is produced. At first separate nipples were employed for the two jets; but, very soon, Mr. Milne hit upon the expedient of drilling two holes, at the required angle, in the same nipple. In this manner, with slight modifications, the burner has continued to be constructed down to the present day. [Illustration: FIG. 3.--FISHTAIL BURNER.] The explanation of the preference accorded to this burner over its predecessor, the batswing, is to be found chiefly, I think, in the very different shapes of the respective flames produced by the two burners. The batswing, in its original form, produced a flame of great width, but of no corresponding height. The extremities of the flame, stretching out from the burner so far on either hand, were easily affected by an agitation of, or commotion in the surrounding atmosphere; a slight draught or current of air causing the flame to smoke at these points. The extreme width of flame also precluded the use of this burner in globes. The flame produced by the union-jet burner, as first constructed, was very different to the one just described. Longer than that of the batswing, and considerably narrower (but widening gradually from its base, at the burner, to its apex), it presented somewhat nearly the appearance of an isosceles triangle; or more closely, perhaps (with its slightly-forked apex), the tail of a fish, from which resemblance it is commonly designated the fishtail burner. This form of flame was better adapted for use in globes, and also better withstood the effects of draughts. And it is perhaps not unreasonable to suppose that as in shape it approached more closely to the kind of flame with which the people had been familiar in oil lamps, the flame produced by the union-jet burner was more agreeable to the eye than that of the batswing, and that this seemingly trivial consideration will account, to some extent at least, for the undue favour shown towards it. For it must not be assumed, because of the widespread popularity to which the union-jet so early attained, and which it has continued to enjoy, that it was of necessity a better burner (in the sense of developing more light for the gas consumed) than the one which preceded it. On the contrary, in this regard it was not quite so effective as the batswing. Nor is this result surprising, looking at the different methods adopted in the two burners for producing the same effects of light and flame. [Sidenote: Union-jet and batswing burners compared.] From the batswing burner the gas issued in a thin but widely-extending stream, presenting, when ignited, a continuous sheet of flame; its height and width depending upon the pressure at which the gas was supplied, but always offering an unbroken surface of flame to the air. Although, from the excessive pressures which, in the early days of gas lighting, were generally employed, the flame drew upon its surface too much air for the attainment of the fullest lighting efficiency obtainable from the gas; yet the form given to the issuing stream of gas precluded the air from entering the interior of the flame, and still further reducing its illuminating power. With the union-jet burner the conditions were greatly changed; and this latter evil, of the introduction of cold air into the interior of the flame, was one of the consequences entailed by the means it employed for producing its flame. From this burner the gas issued in two narrow streams, like single jets, which, directly after emerging from the burner, impinged upon each other at a given angle; the mutual shock given to the streams of gas when thus arrested causing them to spread out in a lateral direction, and (the high velocity at which the gas issued being expended) to unite, and ascend in a sluggish stream until consumed. That injury to the illuminating power of the flame should result from causes connected with the manner of producing it will be understood on considering some of the phenomena associated with the production of a gas flame. [Sidenote: How air is drawn upon a gas flame.] When a jet or stream of gas issues into a still atmosphere, it produces in its immediate neighbourhood, on all sides, an area of low pressure, to occupy which the contiguous air rushes in. Induced air currents are thus set up in close proximity to, and having the same direction as the issuing stream of gas, and varying in force with the pressure, or velocity, at which the gas issues. The non-luminous flame of the Bunsen burner, and of the so-called "atmospheric" burner employed in gas cooking and heating stoves (which is produced by burning a mixture of gas and air), is obtained by taking advantage of this tendency of a stream of gas, issuing under pressure, to draw air upon itself; and it is to the same circumstance that ordinary illuminating flames owe the continuous supply of air necessary to keep up combustion. For the effect is heightened when the gas is inflamed; because, the gaseous products of combustion being expanded by the intense heat to which they are subjected, their velocity of ascension is vastly increased. Having regard to these considerations, it will be clearly perceived how that, in producing the flame of the union-jet burner, the two streams of gas, in the act of combining together, drew into the very midst of the flame a portion of the air with which they were surrounded; and this air, reducing the temperature of the flame, and diluting the illuminating gas by the inert nitrogen introduced, as well as by its oxygen causing a too early oxidation of the carbon particles in the flame, operated to reduce the illuminating power otherwise obtainable from the gas. The foregoing remarks, it must be borne in mind, refer to the union-jet burner in its original form. Numerous improvements have been effected, from time to time, in its construction, as well as in that of the batswing, which, by reducing its liability thus to convey air into the flame, have increased its efficiency; while, at the same time, the shape of the flame has been improved. Indeed, the result of successive improvements in the construction of both burners has been so to modify the shape of their respective flames that, in their latest and most improved form, the flames produced by the two burners are practically identical in appearance, although the manner of their production remains as widely diverse as at the first. The improvements that led up to, and the causes that produced this result, will be more fully explained in the sequel. HOW LIGHT IS PRODUCED FROM COAL GAS. I have before remarked that, in the early period of its use, one of the chief obstacles to the development of the lighting power of coal gas was the excessive pressure at which it was generally supplied. To understand the action of pressure in influencing the amount of light which a given quantity of gas will afford, it is necessary to know something of the nature and properties of flame. Moreover, the conditions upon which is dependent the illuminating power of a gas flame are so intimately related to each other, that the precise functions due to each cannot well be separated from the complete effect produced by the combined operation of all. I shall not, therefore, be needlessly digressing from my subject if, at this juncture, I explain the manner in which combustion takes place in the flame of an ordinary gas-burner. In doing this, I shall endeavour to clothe my remarks in very plain language; using no more technicalities than are absolutely required by the exigencies of the subject. In this way I hope to make my meaning clear to the simplest. At the same time, without pretending to be scientifically complete, the explanation of the phenomena of combustion which I shall furnish will, I trust, be sufficiently explicit to enable the reader to form a right estimate of the principles which regulate the production of light when coal gas is consumed. The end chiefly kept in view is to show clearly the extent to which the degree of light evolved is dependent upon the burner employed, and the manner in which the gas is consumed. If my remarks are the means of causing the reader to look with intelligent interest upon the familiar phenomena of gaslight, they will not have been written altogether in vain. [Sidenote: What is coal gas?] Seeing that this treatise is compiled especially for those whose knowledge as to what coal gas consists of is extremely limited, it may be of advantage to preface my observations on its combustion, and the production of light therefrom, by a few remarks as to its composition. Coal gas, as generally supplied, is made up of a variety of distinct gases; of which, however, only some three or four exist in any considerable proportion. About 50 per cent., by volume (or half of the whole), is hydrogen; from 30 to 40 per cent. consists of marsh gas; while carbonic oxide is usually present to the extent of from 5 to 15 per cent. These three gases, which constitute the great bulk of what is known as common gas--that is, gas made from ordinary bituminous coal, as distinguished from that produced from the more costly cannel--are of little or no value as regards the amount of light they are capable of affording. The flames produced by the burning of the two former gases evolve much heat, but are of very feeble illuminating power. The latter gives a flame of a deep blue colour, producing scarcely any light, but, like the other two, an intense heat. The power of coal gas to yield a luminous flame is dependent upon the small quantity of heavy hydrocarbons which it contains--a constituent, or series of constituents, of which common gas only contains a proportion varying between 3 and 7 per cent., although in cannel gas it reaches as high as 15 or 20 per cent. These heavy hydrocarbons are gases composed, like marsh gas, of carbon and hydrogen; but containing in their composition, for each unit of volume, a greater aggregate of the two elements, as well as a relatively higher proportion of carbon, than exists in marsh gas. One of the simplest members of the series, and that which is usually present in by far the largest amount, is called olefiant gas. It contains twice as much carbon, combined with only the same quantity of hydrogen, as is contained in marsh gas. But besides olefiant gas there are minute quantities of other gases of the same series, having an analogous composition, but differing in the amount and relative proportions they contain of the two elements of which they are composed. All the gases of this series, when properly burnt, are capable of affording a brightly luminous flame; but when consumed alone it is somewhat difficult, on account of the high proportion of carbon which they contain, to effect their combustion without the production of smoke. It is, then, to the heavy hydrocarbons which are part of it--insignificant as their amount may appear--that the luminosity of a gas flame is solely due. The other constituents which I have mentioned as forming so much larger a proportion of the whole, besides contributing to the heat of the flame, serve only to dilute these richer gases, and so promote their more complete combustion. [Sidenote: How gas burns.] The various simple gases which constitute ordinary coal gas do not all burn together in the flame; the temperature required to effect their ignition being lower for some of them than for others. Thus, hydrogen is the first to burn, taking fire readily as soon as it issues from the burner; while the combustion of the heavy hydrocarbons does not commence until they enter the hotter portions of the flame, and is not completed until they reach its farthest extremity. Neither is the process of combustion in both cases the same. The former gas is at once completely consumed; the latter first undergo decomposition by the heat of the flame, being resolved into their elements--hydrogen and carbon--before being fully consumed. This decomposition of the hydrocarbons is a factor of supreme importance in the development of the lighting power of the flame. The hydrogen they contain, being more easily ignited than the carbon, burns first; and the latter is set free, in the solid form, as minute particles of soot. These particles of solid carbon, being liberated in the midst of the flame, are immediately subjected to its most intense heat; they thus become white-hot before they reach the outer verge of the flame, and come in contact with sufficient oxygen to effect their complete combustion. The amount of light developed by any coal-gas flame is directly proportional to the degree of intensity to which the temperature of these carbon particles is raised, and the length of time they remain in the flame before being finally consumed. It becomes, therefore, a matter of considerable importance to know the conditions which are most conducive to the early liberation in the flame of free carbon, and the attainment by it of an exalted temperature. [Sidenote: What is a gas flame?] Looking at the flame (say) of a common slit burner, it is seen to be divided into two sharply defined and wholly distinct portions. First, there is--immediately surrounding the burner head, and extending to some distance from it--a dark, transparent area, which, on closer examination, is found to consist of unignited gas enclosed in a thin envelope of bright blue flame. Second, there is (beyond this central area) a zone, or belt, of brightly luminous flame, white and opaque; the latter property indicating the presence of solid matter at this part of the flame. That the dark central portion of the flame consists chiefly of unignited gas may be shown in various ways, in addition to the evidence afforded by its complete transparency. Thus, if a small glass tube be taken, and its lower end inserted in the flame at this point, the unburnt gas will pass up the tube, and may be lighted at its upper extremity. A splinter of wood thrust through this portion of the flame is charred first at the two edges of the flame; while, in like manner, a piece of platinum foil remains dull in the centre of the flame, and glows only at the points of contact with the outer air. The presence of solid carbon in the luminous portion of the flame may be shown by inserting therein any cold substance (such as a piece of metal or porcelain), which, reducing the temperature of the heated particles of carbon below the point at which they are consumed, becomes instantly coated on its under surface with a deposit of soot. Or, if the flame be suddenly cooled by gently blowing upon its surface, the same result is brought about; clouds of soot are given off, and the flame "smokes."[3] [3] The behaviour of gas flames when exposed to the action of the wind (as exemplified in the naked lights of open markets and similar situations) affords an instructive illustration of the theory of luminous combustion. A sudden gust causes the flame to smoke, by reducing the temperature of the liberated carbon below the point at which it can combine with the oxygen of the air. A continuous wind blowing upon the flame destroys its luminosity altogether, because the heat-intensity of the flame is lowered below the temperature necessary to decompose the hydrocarbons; consequently, these latter burn without the preliminary separation of carbon, and a non-luminous flame is produced--exactly as in the Bunsen or "atmospheric" burner. [Illustration: FIG. 4.--SHOWING THE TWO ZONES OF THE FLAME, AND THE METHOD OF DEMONSTRATING THE PRESENCE OF UNBURNT GAS IN THE FLAME.] [Sidenote: How the flame is cooled.] The existence, in the midst of the flame, of an area of unconsumed gas is due to the cold gas, as it issues from the burner, cooling the interior of the flame below the temperature required for its ignition, as well as to its not at once meeting with sufficient air for complete combustion. The causes which affect the luminous zone of the flame are not so readily explained. It has been stated that the luminosity of the flame is due to the particles of carbon, which are separated out of the hydrocarbons in the gas, being raised to a white heat. To decompose the hydrocarbons, a very high temperature is required; and, on account of the cooling effect of the stream of cold gas, this is not attained except at some distance from the burner. The abstraction of heat by the burner itself is also a cause of the reduction of the temperature of the flame; and, on this account, burners of porcelain, steatite, or similar composition, being bad conductors of heat, have an advantage over those made of metal. So considerable is the cooling influence of the gas stream, that, within certain limits, the distance, from the burner head, at which the luminosity of a flame commences, is proportionate to the velocity with which the gas issues; or, in other words, the pressure at which it is delivered from the burner. The effect is heightened by the tendency (which has been before remarked) of a stream of gas, issuing under pressure, to draw upon itself and mix with the surrounding air. Thus, with each increment of pressure the luminous zone of the flame is farther removed, until a point is reached at which the gas is so mixed with air before being consumed that the luminosity of the flame is completely destroyed. [Sidenote: Effects of pressure in the gas supply.] But it must not be assumed, because of the foregoing remarks, that the pressure at which the gas issues from the burner is altogether an unmixed evil. In flat-flame burners it fulfils the important function of promoting intensity of combustion, by bringing the white-hot particles of carbon into intimate and rapid contact with the air that is necessary for complete combustion. In Argand burners this duty is discharged by the glass chimney; but with flat-flame burners it devolves entirely upon the pressure at which the gas issues from the burner. It will be seen, therefore, that the pressure of the gas is a factor of considerable importance in determining the amount of light afforded by a gas flame, as it is a matter requiring careful adjustment with each and every burner. On the one hand, with an excessive pressure the intensity of combustion is increased; but the separated carbon does not remain so long in the flame. The area of luminosity is thereby decreased, and the total light yielded is reduced. On the other hand, with insufficient pressure the combustion is not energetic enough to raise the particles of carbon to a white heat; consequently, the illuminating power of the flame is feeble, or else the carbon escapes unconsumed as smoke. The thickness of the flame produced by any burner has also an important bearing upon the degree of light afforded; and this property of thickness, again, is dependent upon the width of slit, in the case of batswings (or, in the case of union-jets, upon the size of orifices), and the pressure at which the gas is supplied. The thickness of the flame yielded by any burner will obviously vary inversely with the pressure at which the gas is supplied to it. With a thin flame, all parts of the flame are so completely exposed to the air, that the particles of carbon are no sooner raised to the temperature required to enable them to give out light than they are entirely consumed. With a thicker flame the carbon separated in the midst of the flame exists for a sensibly longer period of time in the white-hot state before it reaches the outside of the flame, and meets with sufficient oxygen for its complete combustion. Thus we find that the best flat-flame burners have comparatively wide orifices; while the pressure at which the gas is delivered from the burner is carefully reduced to the lowest point at which a firm flame is obtained, without smoke. Similarly, in the best Argands the pressure is considerably diminished within the burner, and the gas allowed to issue gently through relatively large holes; while the chimney is carefully adapted to draw upon the surface of the flame just sufficient air to completely consume the quantity of gas which the burner is calculated to deliver. IMPROVEMENTS IN FLAT-FLAME BURNERS. Although, there is no doubt, they were made empirically, and in ignorance of the real effects of pressure upon the flame, the first steps towards increasing the efficiency of flat-flame burners were in the right direction of reducing the excessive pressure at which the gas was formerly allowed to burn. They consisted in the adoption of simple arrangements for obstructing the passage of the gas through the burner, and so retarding its flow. The crudeness of the means which were employed is sufficient evidence that the end aimed at was, at best, but dimly discerned. The body of the burner was stuffed with wool, or pieces of wire gauze; which impeded the progress of the gas; reduced the quantity that would otherwise have been consumed; and, consequently, diminished the velocity with which it issued from the burner. Unfortunately, owing to the imperfect methods in use at that day for condensing and purifying the gas, the burners so constructed became choked with the tarry matters held in suspension, and carried forward by the gas; and so, after a comparatively short period of service, were rendered entirely inoperative. But, altogether apart from the inconvenience and loss thus entailed (which, when improved modes of manufacture had removed the cause, ceased to be experienced), the arrangement was ill adapted for the purpose which it was designed to serve. The rough and uneven nature of the material employed to stuff the burner caused the gas to eddy and swirl as it issued into the atmosphere, and prevented it being supplied equally to all parts of the flame. The consequence was that the advantages which ought to have been derived from the diminished pressure were neutralized by the unsteady flow acquired by the stream of gas; and the illuminating power developed by the flame was little improvement upon what could previously be obtained by the manipulation of the tap controlling the supply of gas to the burner. Besides which, from its unevenness, the appearance of the flame was not so satisfactory. It was not until the principles which regulate the production of light from coal gas came to be known and observed in the construction of burners, that a modification of the old idea was arrived at, which enabled the benefits of a reduced pressure to be obtained without any of the attendant evils hitherto experienced. [Sidenote: The first real improvement of the union-jet burner.] A modification in the construction of the union-jet which, though slight, was nevertheless a real improvement, appears to have been made at an early period in the history of this burner. Instead of having the top of the burner perfectly flat, it was made slightly concave; more especially at its centre, where the two jets of gas emerge. The effect of this alteration was to enable the stream of gas to spread out better; and thus to cause the flame to become broader at its base. The shape of the flame was thereby improved; and (what is of more consequence) its illuminating power increased, because air was not drawn so readily into the midst of the flame. The value of the arrangement is shown by the fact that it has been retained ever since, and is made use of in the latest and most improved burners of this class. Prior to 1860, numerous novel contrivances were introduced as "improved" burners; but all were not equally valuable with the simple arrangement just described. The construction of many of them, indeed, betrayed a lamentable ignorance of the first principles of gas combustion. For instance, one is described as "a fishtail with four converging holes; and there is an aperture in the centre of the burner for the admission of atmospheric air into the flame!" Another was a batswing with two or more slits, producing a series of flames amalgamated into one; by which means it was supposed that an improved duty was obtained from the gas--unmindful, or, more probably, in ignorance of the fact that the same quantity of gas, properly consumed through one slit, would yield a better light. [Sidenote: The double-flame burner.] A burner which, at different times, and under various names, has been brought repeatedly into notice is the double-flame; consisting of two batswing or union-jet burners set at an angle to each other, so that their flames converge, and merge into one. When two gas flames are made to coalesce in this manner, a greater amount of light is developed than the sum of that yielded by the separate flames; provided that, in the combined flame, the gas is properly consumed, without smoke. The reason for this increase is twofold. First, the increased quantity of gas burnt in one flame enables a higher average temperature to be maintained; and, in addition, a smaller surface of flame is exposed to the cooling action of the atmosphere than when the same quantity of gas is consumed in two flames. Second, the pressure at which the gas burns is diminished, because the initial velocity with which the streams of gas issue from the two burners is expended in impinging against each other, and a thicker flame results; the apparatus being, as far as its effect is concerned, a union-jet burner on a large scale. The increase of light so obtained appears to have been noticed at an early period; as a burner embodying the same principle is described and figured in "Clegg's Treatise," published in 1848. In Clegg's burner the gas issued from two perforated parallel plates inclined to each other; but at a more recent period two fishtail burners were employed, being mounted on separate tubes which branched out to a short distance from each other. Occasionally, for experimental and show purposes, it has been constructed with the two branches hinged together, so as to show the different effects produced when the two burners are used separately and in combination. At the present day it is made, by various makers, as one burner with two nipples, as shown in the annexed illustration; which doubtless is its most perfect form. [Illustration: FIG. 5.--DUPLEX BURNER.] The advantages of the double flame are not so obvious under the conditions which obtain at the present day as at the period when it was first introduced. The increase of light it affords is most apparent when the gas is being consumed at an excessive pressure. Although, in general, it may be taken that any two flames, when combined, will develop a higher duty, per cubic foot of gas consumed, than separately; yet it would appear that this is not so in every case. When the gas is being consumed at the critical pressure which gives the best results, the flames are so near the smoking point that the slight diminution of pressure experienced when the streams of gas impinge upon each other is sufficient to cause the combined flame to smoke. Moreover, to such a stage of perfection have the ordinary flat-flame burners now been brought, that, for all ordinary consumptions, it may be safely affirmed that equal, if not superior results can be obtained with a single as with a double flame. Where, however, larger quantities of gas are required to be dealt with than can be effectively consumed in a single burner, the principle of combining two or more burners together, so that their flames shall mutually assist each other, may be advantageously employed; as is seen in the combination of flat-flame burners in the large lamps now employed in improved street lighting. [Illustration: FIG. 6.--SCHOLL'S PLATINUM LIGHT PERFECTER.] [Sidenote: Scholl's "Platinum Light Perfecter."] An ingenious device for improving the efficiency of union-jet burners was brought out some twenty years ago by a Mr. Scholl, of London, and known as Scholl's "Platinum Light Perfecter," which is shown in the accompanying illustration. It consisted of a little brass ring, carrying a plate of platinum about 0·4 inch long by 0·15 inch wide. The ring fitted on to the top of the burner in such a manner that the platinum plate was held, in a vertical position, between the two orifices from which the gas emerged. The jets of gas, instead of impinging upon each other, impinged against the plate, and united above to form the flame. By the interposition of the metal plate, the velocity of the gas was much reduced; and a thicker and more sluggish flame was produced, with the result of increasing its illuminating power. When the apparatus was used upon a burner having very small orifices, and delivering its gas at a high pressure, the increase of light obtained was very striking; but with lower pressures the advantage derived from its use was correspondingly diminished. This is very clearly shown by the following table, which is extracted from a report, by Captain Webber and Mr. Rowden, on experiments upon gas-burners, carried out at the Paris Universal Exhibition, 1867.[4] [4] See _Journal of Gas Lighting_, Vol. XVIII., p. 88. --------------------------+-------+--------+---------------------+-------- Kind of Burner. |Cubic |Pressure| Illuminating Power. | |Feet of| in +----------+----------+Increase |Gas |Inches. |Without |With | per |per | |Perfecter.|Perfecter.| Cent. |Hour. | | | | --------------------------+-------+--------+----------+----------+-------- Leoni's fishtail, No. 2 . | 3 | 0·84 | 1·3 | 4·1 | 215 Leoni's fishtail, No. 3 . | {3 | 0·46 | 2·4 | 4·6 | 91 | {4 | 0·70 | 2·8 | 6·5 | 132 | {3 | 0·31 | 3·4 | 5·0 | 47 Leoni's fishtail, No. 4 . | {4 | 0·47 | 4·5 | 7·6 | 68 | {5 | 0·71 | 5·0 | 9·2 | 84 | {4 | 0·42 | 5·3 | 6·9 | 30 Leoni's fishtail, No. 5 . | {5 | 0·60 | 6·1 | 8·3 | 36 | {6 | 0·81 | 7·1 | 10·0 | 40[5] Leoni's fishtail, No. 6 . | {4 | 0·31 | 6·2 | 8·0 | 29[6] | {5 | 0·46 | 8·0 | 10·4 | 30[7] --------------------------+-------+--------+----------+----------+-------- [5] Flame flickers. [6] Do. [7] Flame flickers a great deal. Burners were also made with the metal plate forming part of the burner head; and, instead of being of platinum, it was sometimes formed of thin steel, or other commoner metal. Where platinum was used, some advantage probably accrued from its becoming incandescent; but, of course, any benefit arising from this source was not obtained when steel was employed. The remarks which have been made respecting the limited applicability of the double-flame burner will apply, with equal force, to the apparatus under notice. Although it effected an undoubted improvement when applied to burners ill adapted to the pressure at which the gas was supplied, equally good results could be obtained without its aid, when a burner was employed suited to the quality and pressure of the gas supplied. [Sidenote: Leoni's flat-flame burners.] Perhaps the most efficient flat-flame burners available prior to 1867 were those made by Mr. S. Leoni, of London. One of these is shown in fig. 7. This maker produced both batswing and union-jets; various sizes being made of each burner. Besides affording fairly good results from the gas consumed, the burners were supplied at a very moderate price. Their distinguishing feature was the peculiar substance of which the burner-tips were formed. This was a material invented by Mr. Leoni, and named by him "adamas." (The precise composition of "adamas" is a trade secret; but it appears to consist of a mixture of various minerals or earths, moulded in a clayey or plastic condition, and then burnt.) Previous to his invention, the tip of the burner, or the burner head, had been made, almost exclusively, of iron or brass. There were, however, some grave defects inherent in the use of metal for this purpose. The orifices of union-jets and the slits of batswings in course of time became much obstructed by the corrosion of the metal; and the efforts made to remove the obstruction only served to destroy the burner more quickly, by increasing the size and injuring the precise shape of the apertures. The "adamas" tips, on the other hand, perfectly withstood the high temperature to which they were exposed, were quite incorrodible, and were sufficiently hard to endure a considerable degree of even rough usage. By constructing the tip of this material, the efficiency of the burner was improved in many ways. The liability of the burner to corrosion being removed, and the inconvenience due to this cause done away with, the life of the burner was prolonged, and the expense of renewal consequently reduced. But, in addition to these advantages, there was yet another direction in which the "adamas" tip contributed to enhance the utility of the burner. This was in maintaining a higher temperature of the flame; and arose from its inferior capacity, compared with metal, for conducting heat from the flame. That the advantage derived from this source, although unimportant, was not altogether imaginary, will be apparent when it is mentioned that metal burners, when in operation, usually attain to a temperature of from 400° to 500° Fahr.--an indication of the amount of heat being continuously abstracted from the flame. The adoption of a non-conducting material for the burner-tip, while it did not entirely prevent, considerably reduced the loss of heat. [Illustration: FIG. 7.--LEONI'S FLAT-FLAME BURNER.] Two varieties of each class of burner were made by Mr. Leoni. In the one burner, the "adamas" tip was inserted into an iron stem; in the other, the tip was inserted in a brass body, which fitted on to the iron stem. Between the brass body and the iron stem of the latter burner there was affixed a layer of wool, designed to check the pressure at which the gas was supplied. Owing, very probably, to the unsuitability of the material (wool) used for this purpose, the result was not satisfactory; as, according to the statements of Messrs. Webber and Rowden, in the report previously cited, no difference could be detected, in many experiments, between the results yielded by the burner with or without the layer of wool. Some light is shed upon this apparent anomaly by certain experiments made by the writer to determine the pressure at which gas issues from various burners. With one of Leoni's No. 4 union-jets, under an initial pressure of 1 inch (the pressure at the inlet when the burner is in operation), the pressure at the outlet of the burner, when the layer of wool was employed, was 0·11 inch; but from the same burner, when the layer of wool was removed, the gas issued at a pressure of only 0·07 inch. Thus the effect of inserting the layer of wool in the burner was exactly the opposite of that which it was intended to produce; the pressure of the issuing gas stream being increased instead of diminished. BRÖNNER'S BURNERS. The credit of having produced the first flat-flame burners designed upon scientifically correct principles belongs undoubtedly to Herr Julius Brönner, of Frankfort-on-the-Maine. Long before the date of his invention, efforts had been made to reduce the pressure of the gas within the burner. But these endeavours were carried out in so hap-hazard a fashion as to lead to the belief that no definite conception was entertained as to what was really required. As we have seen, layers of wool had been employed; but the area of the interstices, or the gas-way through the material, was a matter of the merest accident. And there was not the slightest guarantee that the same conditions should prevail in any two burners. Herr Brönner shrewdly detected the cause of former failures, as he clearly perceived the end which it was requisite to attain, and towards which previous inventors had been but blindly groping. Having formed a right estimate of the requirements to be fulfilled, and the difficulties to be surmounted, he set about accomplishing the desired result by other means. There were two causes which had chiefly contributed to the unsuccessful issues of previous attempts. One was the uncertain and indefinite operation of the means employed for diminishing the pressure; the other was the inadequate provision for enabling the gas to lose the current, or swirl, acquired in passing the diminishing arrangement, and come to a state of comparative rest before issuing into the atmosphere. Both these errors were successfully avoided in Brönner's invention--the former by making the inlet to the burner of restricted and definite dimensions, and of less area than the outlet, or slit; the latter by enlarging the chamber, or place of expansion within the burner, as well as by the different arrangement adopted for diminishing the pressure. [Illustration: A TOP. B TOP. FIG. 8.--BRÖNNER'S BURNERS.] [Sidenote: Construction of Brönner's burners.] The general appearance of Brönner's burner is pear-shaped; and in size it is considerably larger than an ordinary burner designed to pass an equal quantity of gas. It consists of a cylindrical brass body surmounted by a steatite top, and tapering to a very small diameter at its lower end, or inlet; the latter being closed by a plug of steatite, in which is a rectangular slot, or aperture, of accurately defined dimensions. The size of this aperture determines the quantity of gas which, at any particular pressure, is admitted to the burner; and the slit, or outlet of the burner, being of greater area than the inlet, ensures the gas being delivered from the burner at a lower pressure than that at which it enters it. By varying the respective dimensions of these two openings, and their relation to each other, the burner may be regulated to deliver its gas at any required pressure short of the initial pressure at the entrance to the burner. The enlargement of the cylindrical body provides an expansion chamber, wherein the velocity of the stream of gas which rushes through the narrow opening at the inlet of the burner is checked, and any agitation or unsteadiness which may have been imparted to it is subdued before the gas issues into the atmosphere and is consumed. There are two kinds of tops for the burners, which are distinguished by the letters A and B. The B top is of the ordinary semi-spherical type, giving a true batswing-shaped flame; the A top is flatter, almost square in form, and yields a flame taller than, but not so broad as the former. In consequence of this difference in the shape of its flame, the latter burner is better adapted for use in globes. The general appearance of the burners, and their distinguishing peculiarities, will be clearly understood from the illustrations. [Sidenote: Properties of steatite.] The material of which the more important parts of the burner are constructed is eminently adapted for the purpose. Steatite is a mineral which, as found in nature, is so soft as to be readily turned in a lathe, and shaped to any design; but when heated up to about 2000° Fahr. it becomes almost as hard and durable as flint, while perfectly retaining its form and colour. These properties peculiarly qualify it for receiving a slit or orifice, which, though of minute proportions, must be accurately formed to precise dimensions. Besides which, like "adamas," its capacity for conducting heat away from the flame is so limited that, in this respect, it has a considerable advantage over metal for the purpose of being formed into gas-burners. [Sidenote: Varied adaptability of the Brönner burner.] The following tables, which are extracted from the report of the Committee of the British Association appointed to investigate the means for the development of light from coal gas of different qualities,[8] exhibit the very satisfactory results obtained by the use of these burners. In Table I., the gas operated upon was cannel gas (such as is generally supplied in Scotland), and possessed an illuminating power, when employed in the standard burner, of 26 candles per 5 cubic feet. Table II. contains the results of determinations with common gas (such as is used in London, and generally throughout the greater part of England); 5 cubic feet of which, in the standard burner, gave an illuminating power of 16 candles. The first and second columns of the tables refer to the different sizes of the tops and bottoms of the particular burners employed; there being in all some 16 sizes of the one, and 11 sizes of the other. These, being interchangeable, permit of a great variety of combinations; and enable a burner to be selected suited to any particular quality or pressure of gas. For as with pressure, so with illuminating power: In order to obtain the utmost lighting efficiency, different burners are required for gases differing in quality or their degree of richness. A burner which, with gas of one quality, will yield excellent results, may, under the same conditions of pressure and supply, be totally unsuited to gas of another quality. That this should be so will be evident from a consideration of what has been said as to the theory of burning gas to the best advantage; and, in brief, results from the richer gas containing in its composition a greater proportion of carbon, and so requiring an increased supply of air for its thorough combustion. This increased supply of air can only be obtained (with flat-flame burners) by causing the gas to issue into the atmosphere at a higher pressure; and so it comes about that, compared with the quantity of gas to be delivered through them, the slits of batswing and the orifices of union-jet burners must be considerably narrower when intended for cannel gas than when common gas is to be consumed. In other words, in order to develop its full illuminating power, it is essential that the pressure at which the gas issues from the burner should be proportioned to its quality. The gist of the matter is set forth in the general statement that "the poorer the quality of the gas, the lower must be the pressure at which it is consumed; and _vice versâ_." [8] See _Journal of Gas Lighting_, Vol. XXXII., p. 423, and Vol. XXXVI., p. 376. TABLE I. -----------------------------------+----------------------------------- | AT 0·5-INCH | AT 1·0-INCH | AT 1·5-INCH | PRESSURE. | PRESSURE. | PRESSURE. -------+----+-----+-------+--------+-------+----+-----+-------+-------- No. |No. |Cubic|Illumi-|Illumi- |No. |No. |Cubic|Illumi-|Illumi- of |of |Feet |nating |nating |of |of |Feet |nating |nating Burner.|Top.|per |Power. |Power |Burner.|Top.|per |Power. |Power | |Hour.| |per Five| | |Hour.| |per Five | | | |Cub. Ft.| | | | |Cub. Ft. -------+----+-----+-------+--------+-------+----+-----+-------+-------- 2 | 2 | 1·20| 5·07 | 24·13 | 2 | 2 | 1·40| 5·25 | 18·75 2 | 3 | 1·40| 6·64 | 23·71 | 2 | 3 | 1·95| 7·37 | 18·90 2 | 4 | -- | Smokes| -- | 2 | 4 | 2·30| 10·33 | 22·46 2 | 5 | -- | " | -- | 2 | 5 | 2·40| 11·24 | 23·42 2 | 6 | -- | " | -- | 2 | 6 | -- | Smokes| -- -------+----+-----+-------+--------+-------+----+-----+-------+-------- 2-1/2 | 2 | 1·40| 5·53| 19·75 | 2-1/2 | 2 | 1·90| 8·30 | 21·84 2-1/2 | 3 | 1·70| 8·48| 24·94 | 2-1/2 | 3 | 2·30| 10·14 | 22·04 2-1/2 | 4 | 2·03| 10·33| 25·49 | 2-1/2 | 4 | 2·70| 12·08 | 22·37 2-1/2 | 5 | -- | Smokes| -- | 2-1/2 | 5 | 2·85| 14·29 | 25·07 2-1/2 | 6 | -- | " | -- | 2-1/2 | 6 | 3·00| 15·21 | 25·35 -------+----+-----+-------+--------+-------+----+-----+-------+-------- 3 | 2 | 1·45| 6·27| 21·62 | 3 | 2 | 2·00| 8·48 | 21·20 3 | 3 | 1·90| 8·66| 22·79 | 3 | 3 | 2·40| 11·34 | 23·63 3 | 4 | 2·13| 11·24| 26·39 | 3 | 4 | 2·80| 14·84 | 26·50 3 | 5 | -- | Smokes| -- | 3 | 5 | 3·15| 17·04 | 27·20 3 | 6 | -- | " | -- | 3 | 6 | 3·25| 18·07 | 27·80 -------+----+-----+-------+--------+-------+----+-----+-------+-------- 3-1/2 | 2 | 1·50| 5·81| 19·36 | 3-1/2 | 2 | 2·12| 8·85 | 20·87 3-1/2 | 3 | 1·95| 8·30| 21·28 | 3-1/2 | 3 | 2·55| 12·63 | 24·76 3-1/2 | 4 | 2·55| 12·08| 23·68 | 3-1/2 | 4 | 3·00| 14·47 | 26·12 3-1/2 | 5 | 2·80| 14·38| 25·68 | 3-1/2 | 5 | 3·50| 18·07 | 25·81 3-1/2 | 6 | 3·00| 15·58| 25·97 | 3-1/2 | 6 | 3·60| 19·45 | 27·01 -------+----+-----+-------+--------+-------+----+-----+-------+-------- 4 | 2 | 1·60| 6·36| 19·87 | 4 | 2 | 2·30| 9·77 | 21·24 4 | 3 | 2·10| 10·69| 25·45 | 4 | 3 | 2·90| 13·83 | 23·84 4 | 4 | 2·65| 13·37| 25·23 | 4 | 4 | 3·30| 17·06 | 25·85 4 | 5 | 3·45| 17·61| 25·52 | 4 | 5 | 4·10| 21·57 | 26·30 4 | 6 | 3·55| 18·07| 25·45 | 4 | 6 | 4·20| 22·40 | 26·66 -------+----+-----+-------+--------+-------+----+-----+-------+-------- 5 | 2 | 1·77| 7·38| 20·85 | 5 | 2 | 2·60| 9·68 | 18·81 5 | 3 | 2·30| 11·90| 25·87 | 5 | 3 | 3·30| 13·64 | 20·67 5 | 4 | 3·30| 15·40| 23·33 | 5 | 4 | 4·00| 19·91 | 24·14 5 | 5 | 4·10| 20·74| 25·29 | 5 | 5 | 5·00| 25·36 | 25·36 5 | 6 | 4·30| 22·68| 26·37 | 5 | 6 | 5·30| 27·66 | 26·10 -------+----+-----+-------+--------+-------+----+-----+-------+-------- TABLE II. ----+----+----------------------+---------------------+------------------ | | AT 0·5-INCH | AT 1·0-INCH | AT 1·5-INCH | PRESSURE. | PRESSURE. | PRESSURE. | +-----+-------+------+-----+-------+-------+-----+-------+------ No. |No. |Cubic|Illumi-|Illum.|Cubic|Illumi-|Illum. |Cubic|Illumi-|Illum. of |of |Feet |nating |Power |Feet |nating |Power |Feet |nating |Power Top.|Bot-|per |Power. |per |per |Power. |per |per |Power. |per |tom.|Hour.| |Five |Hour.| |Five |Hour.| |Five | | |Cub. | | |Cub. | | |Cub. | | |Ft. | | |Ft. | | |Ft. ----+----+-----+-------+------+-----+-------+-------+-----+-------+------ A2 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 1·5 | 2·7 | 9·0 | 2·0 | 4·0 | 10·0 " | 2 | 1·6 | 2·9 | 9·1 | 2·4 | 5·2 | 10·8 | 3·1 | 6·8 | 11·0 " | 2½ | 2·0 | 3·9 | 9·8 | 2·9 | 6·8 | 11·7 | 3·8 | 9·4 | 12·4 A3 | 3 | 2·1 | 4·4 | 10·5 | 3·2 | 7·8 | 12·2 | 4·4 | 10·6 | 12·0 " | 3½ | 2·5 | 4·8 | 9·6 | 3·8 | 9·2 | 12·1 | 4·9 | 12·2 | 12·4 " | 4 | 2·5 | 5·4 | 10·8 | 3·8 | 9·6 | 12·7 | 5·2 | 13·6 | 13·1 " | 4½ | 3·0 | 6·4 | 10·7 | 4·5 | 10·8 | 12·0 | 5·9 | 14·8 | 12·5 " | 5 | 3·2 | 7·7 | 2·0 | 5·1 | 13·2 | 13·0 | 6·8 | 18·0 | 13·2 " | 6 | 3·7 | 8·7 | 11·8 | 5·8 | 15·5 | 13·3 | 7·7 | 21·0 | 13·6 " | 7 | 3·5 | 8·6 | 12·3 | 5·9 | 16·0 | 13·6 | 8·4 | 23·0 | 13·7 " | 8 | 3·7 | 9·0 | 12·2 | 6·2 | 16·8 | 13·5 | 8·6 | 23·4 | 13·6 B1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 1·3 | 2·3 | 8·8 | 1·8 | 3·5 | 9·7 B2 | 2 | 1·3 | 2·3 | 8·8 | 2·1 | 4·4 | 10·5 | 2·8 | 6·4 | 11·4 " | 2½ | 1·6 | 3·0 | 9·4 | 2·5 | 6·0 | 12·0 | 3·4 | 8·4 | 12·4 B3 | 3 | 2·0 | 3·8 | 9·0 | 3·0 | 7·2 | 12·0 | 4·1 | 10·1 | 12·3 " | 3½ | 2·3 | 4·3 | 9·3 | 3·4 | 7·7 | 11·3 | 4·5 | 11·0 | 12·2 B4 | 4 | 2·3 | 4·7 | 0·2 | 3·6 | 8·8 | 12·2 | 5·0 | 13·0 | 13·0 " | 4½ | 2·7 | 5·9 | 10·9 | 4·3 | 10·4 | 12·1 | 5·6 | 15·0 | 13·4 B5 | 5 | 3·1 | 7·0 | 11·3 | 4·9 | 12·9 | 13·2 | 6·5 | 18·0 | 13·8 B6 | 6 | 3·8 | 9·6 | 12·6 | 5·9 | 16·4 | 13·8 | 8·0 | 23·0 | 14·4 B7 | 7 | 4·0 | 10·2 | 12·8 | 6·6 | 19·0 | 14·4 | 9·0 | 26·0 | 14·4 B8 | 8 | 4·7 | 11·8 | 12·6 | 7·3 | 22·0 | 15·1 | 9·6 | 30·0 | 15·7 ----+----+-----+-------+------+-----+-------+-------+-----+-------+------ [Sidenote: Pressure of gas with the Brönner burner.] Doubtless the chief cause of the remarkable efficiency of the Brönner over previous burners is to be found in the pressure at which the gas flows from the burner and is consumed. In the course of some experiments made to determine the pressure at which gas is delivered from various burners, the writer found that from a No. 4 Brönner, with an initial pressure--_i.e._, the pressure at the inlet when the burner is in operation--of 1 inch, the gas issued at a pressure of only 0·05 inch; and with an initial pressure of 0·5 inch, the outlet pressure was only 0·03 inch. On the other hand, a No. 4 steatite flat-flame burner, without any arrangement for retarding the flow of the gas, under the same initial pressure gave at the outlet 0·16 inch and 0·05 inch respectively. The absence of anything within the burner to cause the gas to swirl, or to issue with an unsteady flow, must also be credited with contributing, in no slight degree, to the favourable results yielded by these burners. THE HOLLOW-TOP BURNER. In the hollow-top burner we have one of the most notable improvements which have been effected in flat-flame burners. A simple modification of the batswing--the earliest of flat-flame burners--it is not more complicated in its details than is that burner. Yet, simple as it is, its construction exhibits an important advance upon the original batswing. Indeed, this burner may be said to embody the only considerable improvement that has been made in the distinctive features of the batswing since the introduction of the latter burner, which, as we have seen, took place as early as the year 1816. [Sidenote: The hollow-top an improved batswing burner.] In its outward form, the hollow-top burner differs little, if at all, from the batswing; but a slight modification which has been adopted in the arrangement of its interior has produced a very marked result in improving the shape of the flame yielded by the burner, and, to some extent, in the results, as regards illuminating power, which it is capable of affording. In this burner, as its name implies, the interior of the top or head of the burner is hollowed out, forming an enlargement of the cavity or chamber within the burner, and (what is chiefly important) making the shell of the dome-shaped burner head of equal thickness throughout. In the ordinary batswing, in consequence of the varying thickness of the burner at this part, the slit is much deeper in the middle than at any other part of its length, and gradually decreases in depth towards each end. As the resistance to the passage of the gas, or the friction which it encounters, increases with the depth of the slit, the gas passes out from the burner at the ends of the slit more readily than in the middle; producing a wide-stretching flame, of scanty height in proportion to its width. From the same cause the flame is not of equal thickness throughout; being thinner in the middle than at the ends. Moreover, the outer extremities of the flame, extending so far beyond the body of the burner, are unable to retain the form given to them by the lateral flow of the gas at the ends of the slit; the resistance, presented by the atmosphere, together with the natural tendency of the gas to ascend, causing the under portion of the flame to fold back upon itself. As one result of this combination of untoward circumstances, the flame is liable to smoke with a slight agitation of the surrounding air. In the hollow-top burner, the slit is of equal depth throughout its length; and the resistance offered to the passage of the gas being the same in all parts of the slit, the gas flows through the middle as readily as at the ends--nay, in reality rather more so, owing to the innate ascensive power of the gas, due to its being lighter than air. The peculiar hollowing-out of the head of the burner, also, withdraws the ends of the slit out of the direct course or current of the gas through the burner; so that the tendency of the stream of gas to issue at these points, in preference to going through the middle of the slit, is further checked. The consequence is that the shape of the flame is considerably improved; it being taller, more compact, and not so broad as that of the batswing. In addition, the flame being of equal thickness throughout, its illuminating power is somewhat improved; while, from its compactness, it is better enabled to resist atmospheric influences. With this alteration in the shape of the flame all original resemblance to a batswing is entirely destroyed; but the appearance of the flame of the new burner is much more agreeable to the eye than that of the older batswing. [Illustration: FIG. 9.--ORIGINAL HOLLOW-TOP BURNER. (From Wadsworth's Specification.)] [Sidenote: Who invented the hollow-top burner.] As has been exemplified in so many instances in the history of invention, the hollow-top burner was not appreciated at its true value until long after it had been brought into existence. It appears to have been originally invented by Joseph and James Wadsworth, of Marple and Salford, and was patented by them in 1860. According to the specification of the inventors, the burners might be made either in solid or sheet metal, as will be seen from the accompanying illustrations, copied from the drawings in the specification. But there were difficulties in the way of casting the burners in solid metal which do not seem to have been surmounted; and those produced under the patent appear to have been made exclusively of sheet brass. For many years these burners were made and sold without their peculiarities attracting any marked attention; which would seem to imply that their faulty construction precluded the attainment of all the advantages afforded by the burner as we know it. [Sidenote: Sugg's hollow-top burner.] The superior results which the hollow-top burner was calculated to afford did not become fully apparent until the burner was made of non-conducting material, and greater care exercised in its construction. This appears to have been done in Germany earlier than in this country. But, in England, it was undoubtedly Mr. Sugg who first turned his attention to the improvement of the burner, and demonstrated its merits. Mr. Sugg commenced the manufacture of this burner in steatite in the year 1868; and since that time the burner has been extensively employed, and its advantages widely recognized. The superiority of hollow-top burners produced by Mr. Sugg to those previously manufactured, is chiefly the result of their being made in steatite instead of in metal. With this material, greater exactness and uniformity are obtained in the shape and dimensions of the burner than when metal is employed; besides which there is (what has been before referred to) the advantage arising from its inferior conductive capacity for heat, and its non-liability to corrosion. Another improvement, also due to Mr. Sugg, and which is productive of noticeable results, consists in cutting the slit of the burner with a circular saw, applied from above, so as to make the ends of the slit curved instead of horizontal; by which means the tendency of the gas to issue laterally at the ends of the slit, and form horns to the flame, is lessened. Mr. Sugg's table-top burner (which was introduced in 1880), in addition to the characteristic features of the hollow-top, has a rim-like projection from the burner, below the slit; its object being to protect the flame from the disturbing influence of the uprush of air in its immediate vicinity, and so preserve its shape unaltered, while diminishing its liability to smoke. Prior to Mr. Sugg--namely, in the early part of 1879--Mr. Bray had successfully obviated this injurious action upon the flame of the ascending current of air, by affixing to the burner two arms of brass, so placed as to be immediately under the projecting wings of the flame. [Illustration: 1868 BURNER. 1874 BURNER. TABLE-TOP BURNER. FIG. 10.--SUGG'S HOLLOW-TOP BURNERS.] BRAY'S BURNERS. The burners of Messrs. George Bray and Co. have deservedly acquired a world-wide reputation, and are in extensive use wherever gas lighting is known. Their distinguishing characteristic, and that which has won for them the high repute in which they are held, is the union of cheapness with remarkable efficiency. In all the various descriptions and classes of burners which are produced by this firm, the characteristic referred to is preserved; although it is needless to add that the different varieties are not equally efficient. Of the three forms of flat-flame burners we have been considering--batswing, union-jet, and hollow-top--the one which, more than any other, has been the speciality of the firm is the union-jet; and it is with the development of this class of burner that the name of Bray is most intimately and honourably associated. [Illustration: UNION-JET. HOLLOW-TOP OR SLIT-UNION.[9] BATSWING. FIG. 11.--BRAY'S "REGULATOR" BURNERS.] [9] The name "slit-union," by which Mr. Bray prefers to designate this burner, he states to be derived from the resemblance of its flame to that of the union-jet burner; while it is produced by means of a slit. [Sidenote: Bray's "regulator" burner.] [Sidenote: Bray's "special" burner.] The "regulator" union-jet, which was the first notable burner produced by Messrs. Bray, has received, perhaps, a wider application than any other single gas-burner. It consists of a cylindrical brass case, screwed at one end for insertion into the fittings, and at the other containing a tip of "enamel"--a material invented by Mr. Bray, and apparently of somewhat similar composition to the "adamas" of Mr. Leoni--the "enamel" tip being perforated, in the usual manner, with two holes, set at an angle to each other, for the outflow of the gas. The distinctive feature of this burner is the introduction into the lower part of the brass case of a layer, or layers, of muslin; designed to check in some degree, and to steady the current or flow of the gas through the burner. At the time of its introduction, this burner compared very favourably, as regards the results it yielded, with other burners in common use; and its fairly good performances, together with the very low price at which it can be sold, cause it still to be extensively employed wherever the attainment, from the gas consumed, of the highest obtainable results may be subordinated to cheapness, or in situations where, from delicacy of construction or from the care and attention demanded, a more efficient burner may not be so suitable. But in the matter of developing the illuminating power of the gas employed, the "regulator" is far surpassed by the more recently introduced "special" burner of the same makers. [Illustration: UNION-JET. HOLLOW-TOP OR SLIT-UNION. BATSWING. FIG. 12.--BRAY'S "SPECIAL" BURNERS.] Mr. Bray's series of "special" burners--embracing union-jet, hollow-top, and batswing--are constructed upon the principle of, and in form are somewhat similar to Brönner's burners, which have already been fully described. Apart from its being of greater bulk, the main divergence in the construction of the "special" burner from that of the earlier "regulator" is the introduction, into the lower part of the brass case, of a plug or washer of enamel, pierced by a small circular hole for the admission of gas into the burner; the diameter of this hole determining the quantity of gas which, at any particular pressure, is admitted into the burner. Just above the enamel washer, a layer of muslin is inserted, as in the "regulator" burner; which, in this case, is for the purpose of subduing the agitation, or swirl, acquired by the current of gas in passing through the narrow aperture in the washer. A tip of enamel, made of the particular description (union-jet, hollow-top, or batswing) required, fitting into the upper part of the brass case, completes the burner. The objects aimed at in the "special" burner are to cause the gas to be consumed at the lowest pressure compatible with the maintenance of a firm flame, and with the least agitation, or swirl, in the current of gas as it issues from the burner. The former is attained, as in Brönner's burners, by diminishing the area of the opening admitting into the burner, without a corresponding diminution of the orifices through which the gas issues into the atmosphere; the latter, by the interposition of the layer of muslin which is immediately above the diminishing arrangement, as well as by the enlargement of the gas chamber in the upper part of the burner. The improvement thus effected in the illuminating power developed from the gas is well shown in the following tables extracted from an exhaustive series of tests of gas-burners carried out by Mr. T. Fairley, F.R.S.E., Borough Analyst of Leeds, and embodied by him in a report presented to the Leeds Corporation. The full text of the report will be found in the _Journal of Gas Lighting_ for February 6, 1883. _Medium Lighting Power Union-Jets._ -----------------------------------+----------------------------------- "Regulator" Burners. | "Special" Burners. ------+------+-----+-------+-------+------+------+-----+-------+------- No. |Pres- |Cubic|Illumi-|Illumi-|No. |Pres- |Cubic|Illumi-|Illumi- of |sure |Feet |nating |nating |of |sure |Feet |nating |nating Burner|in |per |Power |Power |Burner|in |per |Power |Power |Inches|Hour |in |per 5 | |Inches|Hour |in |per 5 | | |Stand. |Cubic | | | |Stand. |Cubic | | |Candls.|Feet. | | | |Candls.|Feet. ------+------+-----+-------+-------+------+------+-----+-------+------- 3 | 0·5 | 3·50| 6·8 | 9·7 | 3 | 0·5 | 3·43| 11·3 | 16·4 3 | 1·0 | 4·80| 6·9 | 7·2 | 3 | 1·0 | 4·90| 15·6 | 15·8 3 | 1·5 | 6·20| 7·5 | 6·05 | 3 | 1·5 | 6·03| 17·6 | 14·6 4 | 0·5 | 4·65| 12·2 | 13·1 | 4 | 0·5 | 3·73| 13·3 | 17·8 4 | 1·0 | 6·67| 14·2 | 10·6 | 4 | 1·0 | 5·15| 17·4 | 16·9 4 | 1·5 | 8·16| 14·2 | 8·8 | 4 | 1·5 | 6·57| 22·4 | 17·1 5 | 0·5 | 5·72| 17·0 | 14·9 | 5 | 0·5 | 4·80| 17·6 | 18·3 5 | 1·0 | 7·97| 20·0 | 12·6 | 5 | 1·0 | 6·67| 24·4 | 18·3 5 | 1·5 | 9·73| 21·8 | 11·2 | 5 | 1·5 | 8·30| 30·0 | 18·2 6 | 0·5 | 5·90| 18·0 | 15·2 | 6 | 0·5 | 5·48| 20·1 | 18·3 6 | 1·0 | 8·35| 23·0 | 13·8 | 6 | 1·0 | 7·65| 28·4 | 18·6 6 | 1·5 |10·60| 28·0 | 13·2 | 6 | 1·5 | 9·20| 34·2 | 18·7 ------+------+-----+-------+-------+------+------+-----+-------+------- _Medium Lighting Power Slit-Unions._ -----------------------------------+----------------------------------- "Regulator" Burners. | "Special" Burners. ------+------+-----+-------+-------+------+------+-----+-------+------- No. |Pres- |Cubic|Illumi-|Illumi-|No. |Pres- |Cubic|Illumi-|Illumi- of |sure |Feet |nating |nating |of |sure |Feet |nating |nating Burner|in |per |Power |Power |Burner|in |per |Power |Power |Inches|Hour |in |per 5 | |Inches|Hour |in |per 5 | | |Stand. |Cubic | | | |Stand. |Cubic | | |Candls.|Feet. | | | |Candls.|Feet. ------+------+-----+-------+-------+------+------+-----+-------+------- 3 | 0·5 | 4·22| 13·8 | 16·4 | 3 | 0·5 | 3·04| 10·8 | 17·8 3 | 1·0 | 6·37| 20·2 | 15·9 | 3 | 1·0 | 4·61| 16·4 | 17·6 3 | 1·5 | 8·14| 25·8 | 15·9 | 3 | 1·5 | 5·88| 19·9 | 16·9 4 | 0·5 | 4·25| 14·8 | 17·4 | 4 | 0·5 | 3·82| 14·2 | 18·6 4 | 1·0 | 5·88| 20·6 | 17·5 | 4 | 1·0 | 5·69| 20·8 | 18·3 4 | 1·5 | 7·95| 26·5 | 16·6 | 4 | 1·5 | 7·35| 25·6 | 17·5 5 | 0·5 | 5·25| 19·0 | 18·2 | 5 | 0·5 | 4·12| 15·4 | 18·7 5 | 1·0 | 8·14| 28·4 | 17·45| 5 | 1·0 | 6·37| 23·4 | 18·4 5 | 1·5 |10·20| 36·4 | 17·8 | 5 | 1·5 | 7·94| 28·5 | 18·0 6 | 0·5 | 5·67| 22·2 | 19·6 | 6 | 0·5 | 5·00| 19·6 | 19·6 6 | 1·0 | 8·60| 33·6 | 19·4 | 6 | 1·0 | 7·55| 29·0 | 19·2 6 | 1·5 |11·10| 39·5 | 17·8 | 6 | 1·5 | 9·70| 37·0 | 19·1 ------+------+-----+-------+-------+------+------+-----+-------+------- _Medium Lighting Power Batswings._ -----------------------------------+----------------------------------- "Regulator" Burners. | "Special" Burners. ------+------+-----+-------+-------+------+------+-----+-------+------- No. |Pres- |Cubic|Illumi-|Illumi-|No. |Pres- |Cubic|Illumi-|Illumi- of |sure |Feet |nating |nating |of |sure |Feet |nating |nating Burner|in |per |Power |Power |Burner|in |per |Power |Power |Inches|Hour |in |per 5 | |Inches|Hour |in |per 5 | | |Stand. |Cubic | | | |Stand. |Cubic | | |Candls.|Feet. | | | |Candls.|Feet. ------+------+-----+-------+-------+------+------+-----+-------+------- 3 | 0·5 | 4·16| 12·6 | 15·1 | 3 | 0·5 | 3·37| 12·4 | 18·4 3 | 1·0 | 5·64| 16·6 | 14·8 | 3 | 1·0 | 5·25| 20·4 | 19·4 3 | 1·5 | 7·83| 21·0 | 13·4 | 3 | 1·5 | 7·13| 24·0 | 16·8 4 | 0·5 | 4·26| 14·0 | 16·4 | 4 | 0·5 | 3·67| 13·0 | 17·7 4 | 1·0 | 6·74| 21·2 | 15·6 | 4 | 1·0 | 5·55| 20·6 | 18·6 4 | 1·5 | 7·81| 24·0 | 15·3 | 4 | 1·5 | 7·13| 26·0 | 18·2 5 | 0·5 | 4·76| 15·4 | 16·2 | 5 | 0·5 | 3·86| 14·6 | 18·9 5 | 1·0 | 6·93| 20·4 | 14·7 | 5 | 1·0 | 5·85| 22·6 | 19·4 5 | 1·5 | 8·72| 25·8 | 14·7 | 5 | 1·5 | 7·53| 28·0 | 18·6 6 | 0·5 | 6·04| 20·0 | 16·5 | 6 | 0·5 | 4·86| 19·4 | 20·0 6 | 1·0 | 8·82| 29·4 | 16·6 | 6 | 1·0 | 7·53| 31·6 | 21·0 6 | 1·5 |11·10| 31·6 | 14·2 | 6 | 1·5 | 9·60| 39·0 | 20·4 ------+------+-----+-------+-------+------+------+-----+-------+------- The quality of the gas operated upon averaged about 19 candles when tested with the Standard London Argand Burner. In a former part of this treatise it was remarked that the flames produced by the modern representatives[10] of the batswing and fishtail burners have lost the original resemblance to the objects whence the names of those burners were derived; and that the two flames have gradually approached each other in shape, until, in their latest developments, they are practically identical. We have seen how that, by the invention of the hollow-top, a burner is obtained apparently, to all outward appearance, the same as the batswing, yet giving a greatly improved form of flame. We have now to learn how the fishtail, or union-jet burner has been modified so as to yield a flame closely agreeing with that produced by the improved slit burner. [10] Although the true batswing is still in common use, I look upon the hollow-top as being its "modern representative;" seeing that, in a great many instances, it has superseded the former burner--of which, indeed, it is only an improved form. [Sidenote: How the union-jet burner has been improved.] As first constructed, the union-jet burner gave a tall, narrow flame; its extremity being forked and jagged like the tail of a fish. Besides being unsightly, this form of flame was ill-adapted to develop, to anything like its full extent, the illuminating power of the gas. In order to obtain the best results, as regards illuminating power, the heat-intensity of the flame must be very high, so as to bring up the temperature of the particles of carbon liberated in the flame to the necessary degree of incandescence. To this end there must be concentration of the flame, in order to utilize to the full the heat of combustion. With the tall flame produced by the original union-jet burner there was too much exposure to the atmosphere for the flame to attain to the requisite intensity of heat; as well as considerable liability of the gas being brought too early into intimate contact with air, and so oxidized, or fully consumed, before its carbon had been raised to the temperature necessary to enable it to give out light. With the burner in its improved form the height of the flame is much curtailed, while it is broadened, and made more even and compact. This alteration has been chiefly brought about by two modifications in the construction of the burner-tip--first, by hollowing out its flat upper surface; and, second, by altering the angle at which the two streams of gas emerge from the burner. By scooping out the central portion of the flat top of the burner, so as to form a hollow or depression where the gas emerges, the flat sheet of flame which is formed when the two streams of gas impinge upon each other obtains a broader base, and at the same time is preserved from drawing air into its midst. But the chief share of the improvement is due to the alteration in the angle formed by the two channels in the burner-tip. It will be readily apparent that the more obtuse this angle--that is, the nearer the two streams of gas are to impinging against each other in a horizontal line--the more will the flame tend to spread out, or the lower the pressure required to obtain any desired spread of flame. It is by taking advantage of this circumstance that Mr. Bray has been enabled to improve the union-jet burner. Twenty years ago this burner was usually made with the two channels in the burner-tip placed at an angle of about 60°. In Bray's "regulator" burner, introduced in 1869, they were placed at an angle of 90°; with the result of obtaining a more satisfactory flame, both as regards its appearance and illuminating power. In the "special" burner, which was not brought out till 1876, the angle is increased to 120°; thus enabling the necessary spread of flame to be obtained with the gas issuing at a low pressure. Another minor improvement in the latter burner consists in making the holes in the burner-tip elliptical instead of circular. CHAPTER III. ARGAND BURNERS. [Sidenote: The premier gas-burner.] The premier position among gas-burners undoubtedly belongs to the Argand; and it is from no unwillingness to recognize its claims, much less from ignorance of its merits, that I have left the consideration of this burner until now. It occupies this honourable position as much by virtue of the importance it has acquired through being accepted by Parliament as the test burner, and the peculiar relation in which it consequently stands to other burners, as for any marked superiority in operation. For while, in general, the Argand gives superior results to other burners, this is not always the case. There are circumstances and conditions to which the Argand is quite inapplicable, and where a simpler and less pretentious burner will give excellent results. Indeed, some of the simple flat-flame burners which we have had under notice have now been brought to such a stage of perfection, that, when intelligently used, they not unsuccessfully rival the Argand. But it has been in the direction of demonstrating the illuminating power which it was possible to obtain from gas, and stimulating to the attainment, by other and simpler burners, of the same level of excellence, that the influence of the Argand has been most beneficial. For, by reason of its peculiar construction, and more especially its mode of obtaining the air necessary for combustion, the Argand lends itself, more readily than any other burner, to the work of investigating and experimenting upon the conditions necessary for economical combustion, and the development of the highest illuminating power from the gas consumed. In this burner, the air supply to the flame is under complete control; and thus one of the chief elements of uncertainty and difficulty which are experienced in dealing with other burners is eliminated. The delivery of gas to different parts of the flame is also more susceptible of variation; and the results of such variation more fully exposed to observation. The consequence has been that the most remarkable advances in developing improved illuminating power from coal gas have been made with this burner. But after the possibility of obtaining an improved duty from the gas has been demonstrated by means of the Argand, and the conditions necessary for its attainment determined, equally good results have been achieved by other burners. [Illustration: PLAN OF GLASS-HOLDER AND BURNER TOP. SECTION OF BURNER. FIG. 13.--ARGAND BURNER.] In thus showing the benefits to be derived from a more scientific mode of combustion, and leading the way to the fuller attainment, by other burners, of the illuminating power obtainable from the gas, the Argand burner has acted as a pioneer in the development of gas lighting. For, on account of its complexity, and its delicacy of construction, this burner has never been, nor, indeed, can ever hope to be generally employed. Besides the inconvenience and expense entailed by the cleaning and renewal, when broken, of the glass chimney which is indispensable to this burner, its very perfection as a burner precludes its being adopted under the conditions which appertain to the great majority of situations in which gaslight is required. For while, under the particular conditions as to pressure of gas, &c., for which it has been constructed, the Argand may give results surpassing any other burner, a very slight divergence from these conditions is productive of far more damaging results to the illuminating power of the flame than is the case with other and less efficient burners. The cause of this seeming anomaly will be apparent when we come to consider in detail the construction of the Argand, and the conditions which must be observed to ensure its satisfactory operation. For the present it will suffice merely to make mention of what appear to be well-established facts--viz., that the most perfect burners are the least adapted for use under uncertain and varying conditions; and that in proportion to the efficiency of a burner, under the conditions for which it has been constructed, is the injury to the illuminating power of its flame which is experienced when these conditions are departed from. [Sidenote: What is an Argand burner?] Resolved into its simplest form, the Argand burner may be said to consist of a hollow ring of metal, or other suitable material, provided with the necessary tubes or connections for communicating between its interior and the gas supply, and perforated on its upper surface with a number of holes for the emission of the gas. Through these holes the gas issues in a series of jets, which immediately coalesce to form one cylindrical sheet of flame. The burner is surmounted, and the flame enclosed, by a glass chimney, which is supported on a light gallery connected with the burner; the chimney serving the double purpose of shielding the flame from draughts, or currents of air (thus enabling the gas to burn uniformly and steadily), and of drawing upon the surface of the flame the supply of air necessary for its proper and complete combustion. For in the Argand the air supply is produced under conditions totally different from those which govern its production in all the other burners we have had under consideration. In flat-flame burners, the quantity of air supplied to the flame is determined by the pressure of the gas; or, in other words, the velocity with which it issues from the burner. In Argand burners, on the contrary, the air supply is obtained quite independently of the pressure at which the gas issues; and the conditions most effective for the economical combustion of the gas, and the development from it of the highest illuminating power attainable, are only secured when the pressure of gas is reduced to a minimum. It has been shown, in speaking of flat-flame burners, how the illuminating power of the flames yielded by such burners is injuriously affected by an excess of pressure in the gas, as it issues into the atmosphere, causing a too great intermingling of gas and air. With such burners, however, some degree of pressure is needed, in order, by bringing the flame into contact with sufficient of the oxygen of the air, to promote the requisite intensity of combustion; whereas with the Argand the draught that is produced through the agency of the glass chimney enables the necessary supply of air to be obtained for the support of the flame without adventitious aid from the pressure of the gas. Consequently, one of the chief objects to be aimed at in the construction of the latter burner is to so reduce the pressure of the gas within the burner that it may issue with little or no greater velocity than that due to its own specific lightness. In some of the best Argands this object is attained very successfully; and the ingenious devices which have been made use of to gain this end will be duly described in the sequel. But, in addition to causing the gas to issue from the burner at the minimum of pressure, it must be delivered evenly and equally at all parts of the ring of holes; so that there shall not be an excess of gas supplied to one portion of the flame, and an insufficiency to others. Then the area of the opening in the centre of the ring, through which the air supply is obtained to the inner surface of the flame, as well as the length and diameter of the glass chimney, must be so proportioned that the exact quantity of air needed to enable the flame to yield its maximum results shall be drawn upon it. These, and other equally essential requirements, have to be taken into consideration, and provided for, in constructing an efficient Argand burner. It is no wonder, therefore, that the development of the powers of this burner has taken up so much time and labour and inventive skill; and the remarkable degree of efficiency to which it has now been brought testifies to the thought and the accurate knowledge of the principles of combustion which have been brought to bear upon it. [Sidenote: The earliest Argands.] It is, however, only within comparatively recent years that its true principles of construction have been at all fully recognized, as evinced by the burners which have been produced. For a long period, Argand burners were made upon wholly empirical and arbitrary rules. During the early years of gas lighting, the makers of gas apparatus, and such persons as professed to have a special knowledge of the production and utilization of the new illuminant, appear to have been ignorant of even the most obvious of the conditions required for the successful working of the burner. In one of the earliest works which appeared relating to gas lighting,[11] we find the Argand burner described as consisting of "two concentric tubes closed at the top with a ring having small perforations, out of which the gas can issue; thus forming small distinct streams of light." According to this description, the burner referred to cannot have been an Argand in the strictest sense of the word; but, in reality, must have consisted chiefly of a series of single jets placed in a circle, and surrounded by a glass chimney. But the great improvement in the amount of light developed, which resulted from bringing the jets of flame closer together, so as to cause them to coalesce and produce one homogeneous mass of flame, could not long escape notice; and accordingly we find that in "Clegg's Treatise," which appeared twenty-five years later, the proper disposition of the holes in the ring, necessary for the successful operation of the burner, is clearly recognized. In this work, speaking of the Argand burner, it is remarked (p. 193) that "the distance between the holes in the drilled ring should be so much that the jet of gas issuing from each shall, when ignited, just unite with its neighbour." [11] Accum's "Treatise on Gas-Lights." Before a really efficient burner could be produced, there were, however, to be successfully encountered other problems, the precise nature of which was not so clearly apparent as that of the one above referred to; otherwise their solution would not have been so long delayed. Of these, the most important, and at the same time the most difficult, were two--namely, the right adjustment of the air supply, and the most advantageous pressure at which to consume the gas. In the earliest Argands, not the slightest provision was made for diminishing the pressure of the gas before it was consumed. It was thought that everything had been accomplished that was necessary if the holes for its emission were sufficiently minute to allow of no more than the required quantity of gas passing through them at the extreme pressure at which it was supplied to the burner. The consequence was that the gas, issuing from the burner at a very high velocity, became so intermingled with air before it was consumed, that its flame was excessively cooled; and only a small fraction of the illuminating power available was developed. Then as to the air supply. In nearly every burner produced prior to Mr. W. Sugg's invention of the "London" Argand in 1868, this was greatly in excess of the requirements; nor is it to be wondered at. Had the supply of air been delicately adjusted, while yet there was no provision for diminishing the pressure of gas at the burner, the flame would have been liable to smoke on any sudden increase in the pressure of gas in the mains; and the annoyance and inconvenience occasioned by a smoking flame were greater drawbacks than the loss of light experienced through having the air supply greatly in excess. Thus, although during this period there were many so-called "improved" burners brought into notice, in none of them were these two cardinal requirements in the production of an efficient burner clearly recognized and seriously grappled with; and, consequently, the high level of excellence to which the Argand is capable of being brought was not attained. SUGG'S ARGANDS. [Sidenote: The 'London' Argand.] The invention by Mr. W. Sugg, in 1868, of the famous "London" Argand constitutes an important epoch in the history of gas lighting. Prior to that time, the construction of this class of burners had been carried out in a wholly empirical manner; and such improvements as had been effected must be looked upon as being rather the fortuitous issues of hap-hazard endeavours, than as resulting from the acquirement of clearer views as to the conditions to be complied with in order to ensure the successful operation of the burners. The invention of the "London" Argand was the first earnest attempt to abandon the former chance methods, and to proceed upon more scientific lines. Its construction shows that its inventor possessed a thorough acquaintance with the principles of combustion; while, in many particulars, it exhibits an intelligent discernment, and a successful application of the precise means required to attain a desired end. In this burner, the extreme importance of causing the gas to issue at a low pressure is for the first time clearly recognized; and the manner in which this object is so successfully attained is as simple as it is ingenious. At the entrance to the burner the gas is divided among three narrow tubes, the combined capacity of which is much smaller than that of the pipe supplying the burner. Through these tubes the gas is conducted into a concentric cylindrical chamber (forming the main body of the burner), where its rapid flow is checked; the current, or swirl, which it may have acquired, is subdued; and the gas comes to a state of comparative rest before it issues into the atmosphere and is consumed. The top rim of this concentric cylinder is pierced with 24 holes, the aggregate area of which is considerably greater than that of the three supply-tubes; thus ensuring that the gas shall be delivered at a much lower pressure than that at which it enters the burner. By dividing the gas into three streams, which enter the cylindrical chamber at equidistant points in its circumference, the supply is equally distributed throughout the entire ring of holes; and a flame of even and regular shape is the result. The arrangement by which, in this burner, the air supply is obtained and regulated is as noteworthy as are the means adopted for controlling the pressure of the gas. The opening within the circular ring of holes is much smaller than in previous Argands; thereby proportionately reducing the quantity of air supplied to the inner surface of the flame. The space between the cylindrical body of the burner and the glass chimney is occupied by a truncated cone of thin metal, the upper edge of which is on a level with, and reaches to within a very short distance of the rim of the burner; while its base rests upon the gallery supporting the chimney. By means of this cone, all the air entering between the burner and the chimney is directed upon the immediate surface of the flame; thereby promoting intensity of combustion, and a higher illuminating power of the flame. Then the chimney itself is of such dimensions that, with the quantity of gas for which the burner has been constructed, just sufficient air is drawn upon the flame to completely consume the gas by the time the top of the chimney is reached; a flame of such length as to nearly reach to the top of the chimney, without smoking, being the most effective and economical for the quantity of gas consumed. [Illustration: FIG. 14.--SUGG'S "LONDON" ARGAND. (_Full Size._)] Another matter which tended not a little to enhance the results yielded by this burner was an alteration in the material of which the body of the burner was constructed. In previous Argands, this had, in almost every instance, been metal; whereas in the "London" burner steatite was employed. How the illuminating power of the flame is affected by the material of which the burner is constructed has been gone into so fully before (in relation to flat-flame burners), that it is unnecessary to dwell upon the matter here; only remarking that as in Argands the contact surface between the burner and the flame is relatively so much greater than in flat-flame burners, the cooling of the flame due to this cause is proportionately increased. [Sidenote: The standard test burner.] [Sidenote: The improved "London" Argand.] So great was the improvement effected by this burner in the illuminating power developed from the gas consumed, so obvious its superiority to every previous Argand, that it was immediately adopted by the Metropolitan Gas Referees as the standard burner for testing ordinary coal gas within the area of their jurisdiction; and from that time down to the present it has continued to be prescribed in Acts of Parliament as the burner to be employed in testing ordinary coal gas, not only in the Metropolis, but generally throughout the United Kingdom. But although, as the standard test-burner, the original "London" Argand can still be obtained, it has been far surpassed, in the results yielded, by a new series of Argands, in which the same ingenious inventor has still further applied the principles first put into practice in the former burner. In this newer series of burners, the details of construction before adopted are modified in two or three particulars; but without departing from the general principles embodied in the arrangement of the earlier burner. Thus the holes in the ring are considerably larger, while the three supply-tubes remain of exactly the same capacity as before; by which means the gas is delivered at a much lower pressure. As the increased size of holes necessitates that the cylindrical body of the burner should be of enlarged diameter, the opening in the centre becomes of greater area than before. Were it to remain so, it would permit too large a quantity of air to be drawn upon the inner surface of the flame; to obviate which result a metal spike rises in the centre, reducing the area of the opening, and proportionately diminishing the quantity of air which would otherwise be admitted at this part of the burner. The arrangement for regulating the air supply to the outer surface of the flame is likewise modified, but in a different direction. The upper edge of the cone is brought nearer to the rim of the burner, and slightly curved, so as to direct the air more completely upon the flame; while the base of the cone, instead of extending to the glass chimney in an unbroken surface, is pierced by a number of holes, which admit air between the cone and the chimney. The action of this third current of air is to keep the chimney cool, and to steady the flame; and, in addition, it may be that it provides a supply of air to support and intensify combustion at the upper extremity of the flame. The combined effect of these alterations is to cause the burner to develop from 7 to 12 per cent. more light from the gas consumed, than is yielded by the original "London" Argand. [Sidenote: Silber's Argand burner.] The Silber Argand, which is a remarkably efficient burner, in the main features of its construction is very closely related to Mr. Sugg's later Argands just described. The air is directed on to the outer surface of the flame, as in those burners, by a curved deflector, of which the upper edge is, however, at a higher level than in Mr. Sugg's burners. Air is also admitted between the deflector and the glass chimney. The most striking divergence in its construction from that of Mr. Sugg's burners is contained within the opening in the centre of the burner. Instead of a solid metal spike, there is a brass tube, through which, as well as between its circumference and the cylindrical body of the burner, air can enter to feed the inner surface of the flame. In addition to promoting the steadiness of the flame, it would appear that the air entering through this inner tube supports the combustion of the gas at the tail of the flame. The arrangements for diminishing the pressure of the gas within the burner, and for ensuring its equable distribution to all parts of the ring of holes, though quite different, seem to be scarcely less complete than those employed in the "London" burner. From the nipple which connects the burner to the gas supply, the gas enters (by four minute perforations) into a horizontal chamber, where its velocity is checked, and whence it is conveyed into the cylindrical chamber forming the main body of the burner. The very satisfactory performances of the burner (which are in advance of those of the standard Argand) sufficiently attest the correctness of its construction. [Sidenote: Multiple Argands.] For consuming large quantities of gas, double or treble Argands are constructed. These consist, in effect, of two or three Argand burners placed concentrically to each other within one chimney. Mr. Sugg has produced a series of burners of this class, designed to pass quantities of gas ranging from 15 to 55 cubic feet per hour; and, in some instances, exceeding even the latter figure. These burners, with ordinary (16-candle) coal gas, give a light equal to 4 candles per cubic foot of gas consumed; which is a considerably better result than is afforded by the standard burner. The cause of their yielding results so superior to the ordinary Argand is found in the circumstance that their flames present a much smaller surface area to the cooling action of the air, in proportion to the quantity of gas consumed. The arrangement of these burners differs from that of the improved single Argands, which have been described, only in that there are two or more steatite cylinders, each fed by its own supply-tubes, and having its own distinct ring of holes; while the space between the cylinders is so proportioned as to admit no more than the quantity of air required to produce the necessary intensity of combustion. [Illustration: FIG. 15.--THE DOUGLASS ARGAND. (_A A, Focal Plane, or Belt of Strongest Light._)] THE DOUGLASS BURNER. The multiple or concentric Argand invented by Mr. (now Sir) J. N. Douglass, the Engineer to the Trinity House, may be mentioned here. This burner is of the type of those last noticed, but possesses certain peculiar features which give it a distinct claim to novelty. As will be seen by the accompanying illustration, the concentric cylinders of which the burner is composed terminate at different heights; their tops forming a regular gradation of steps, of which the innermost is the highest. These cylinders are of considerable depth, permitting the gas and air to be heated by contact with their surfaces before the point of ignition is reached. The essential feature of the invention, however, is a series of deflectors of peculiar shape, which, in addition to directing air on to the surfaces of the flames, are so formed "as to force the outer flame or flames on to the inner flame or flames in the manner illustrated." By this means the flames are concentrated and united into one, and combustion is quickened; and, a greater intensity of heat being thus attained, the illuminating power is much augmented. When this burner was first brought into notice, in 1881, high hopes were entertained as to its future. The results which it was said to afford, being far in advance of anything previously obtained from a simple Argand, seemed to promise for the burner a speedy and unequivocal success. At the North-East Coast Marine Exhibition, held in 1882, a burner with ten rings was exhibited, which was reported to develop, from 16-candle gas, 6 candles per cubic foot--a truly remarkable result to be given by so simple a burner. But, notwithstanding its apparently successful introduction, the burner has made little or no headway in the direction of its practical application. Indeed, it may almost be said to have faded altogether out of public view. This would seem to imply that there are difficulties in the way of its successful working, when brought under ordinary conditions, which were not foreseen at the time of its invention. CHAPTER IV. GOVERNOR-BURNERS. [Sidenote: Effects of excessive pressure with Argand and flat-flame burners.] Throughout this treatise, much has been said of the relation which the pressure of gas, at the point of its delivery from the burner, bears to the illuminating power of the flame yielded--sufficient to show that the maintenance of a low and equable pressure in the gas supply is one of the conditions most imperative to be observed for the attainment of economy in combustion. Ordinarily, however, this condition does not obtain at the consumers' burners. The exigencies of distribution require that, in order to maintain a sufficient supply wherever gas is needed, a much higher pressure should be kept in the mains than is requisite for developing, at the burner, the best results from the gas consumed. Moreover, the pressure at any one point is subject to continual fluctuations from the variations in the consumption of gas going on in the neighbourhood. For instance, where a number of burners are in operation in a house, consuming about the exact quantities of gas for which they have been constructed, when part of them are shut off the gas supply to the remainder is in excess of what is required; and, consequently, the burners do not develop the same proportion of light from the gas consumed as formerly. Where a large consumption of gas is suddenly discontinued (as in the business parts of a town, when the shops and warehouses are closed), the increase of pressure that is experienced at the burners which remain in operation is very manifest. The effect of this increase in the pressure of the gas supply is seen in different directions in Argand and flat-flame burners. In the former, it causes the flame to smoke, by permitting more gas to pass through the burner than can be properly consumed; in the latter, by cooling the flame below the temperature required for effective combustion, it reduces, in proportion to the extent to which it is higher than the original pressure, the illuminating power developed per cubic foot of gas consumed. [Sidenote: The gas regulator.] Seeing that economy in combustion can only be attained under the conditions of an equable pressure, it becomes necessary to subdue the fluctuations above referred to, or at least to prevent their reaching the burner. To this end the regulator, or governor, is employed. In this instrument, a bell dipping into, and sealed in liquid--or else a flexible leather diaphragm--is actuated by the pressure of the entering gas, and so connected with a valve as to reduce the area of the opening which permits gas to enter the instrument in proportion to the pressure of gas at the inlet; by which means an equable pressure is maintained at the outlet, no matter what the quantity of gas which is being consumed, or how the pressure may vary in the inlet-pipe. By the aid of a governor, fixed on the service-pipe at the entrance to a building, the pressure of gas at the various burners is rendered fairly uniform; yet, even then, perfect equality of pressure is not obtained. The slight friction which the gas experiences in flowing through the pipes causes the burners to be supplied at somewhat lower pressures, the farther they are removed from the burner. And, again, owing to its low specific gravity, gas tends to gain in pressure with an increased elevation; each rise of 10 feet adding about 1-10th of an inch to its pressure. From this cause a higher pressure is experienced in the upper than in the lower rooms of a building. This peculiarity was observed at an early period in the history of gas lighting; as Clegg mentions that, in cotton-mills, check-taps were employed to regulate the pressure of gas at each floor.[12] In order, therefore, to obtain the desired regularity of pressure in the gas supply, governors must be employed for each storey; or, what is better still, each burner must have its own separate governor. And this brings us back to the subject with which we are more closely concerned. [12] Clegg's "Treatise on Coal Gas," 1st Ed., p. 197. The governor-burner, as its name implies, consists of a governor, as described above (but, of course, on a smaller scale) combined with a gas-burner; the governor being adjusted so as, whatever excess of pressure there may be in the gas-supply pipes, to permit only the quantity of gas to pass which the burner is intended to consume. Obviously, the principle herein contained is capable of receiving numerous applications. It can be, and is applied with equal success to Argand and flat-flame burners; while the modifications which obtain in the manner of constructing the regulating portion of the apparatus are almost as numerous and as varied as are the burners themselves. As the main features exhibited by one are common to all, it is unnecessary to go into the details of their several constructions. It will suffice to take two or three of the most successful, or the best known, as representatives of the whole. [Sidenote: Giroud's Rheometer.] Among the first in order of time--and still retaining no unworthy position in order of merit--is the "rheometer," or "flow-measurer," of M. Giroud. In this instrument a light metal bell is sealed in glycerine contained in a cylindrical case; the bottom of this latter containing the inlet-pipe, screwed for connecting to the ordinary fittings, while from the centre of its cover rises a tube leading to the burner. The bell is pierced by a small hole for the passage of the gas, and is surmounted by a cone-shaped projection, which constitutes the valve of the instrument. As the pressure of the entering gas lifts the bell, it causes this cone-valve to enter the mouth of the tube leading to the burner; reducing the area of the opening in proportion to the pressure of gas acting upon the under side of the bell, and so permitting only the required quantity of gas to pass to the burner. It might be thought that the presence of liquid would constitute an objection to the use of the instrument; but, as glycerine does not evaporate, when once the instrument is fixed and properly adjusted, it needs no further attention. With an excessive initial pressure, there is, however, a liability of the gas to bubble through the sealing liquid, and so destroy the efficiency of the instrument; but this might be obviated by increasing the depth of the bell, and so giving it a greater seal. The instrument is very reliable for the purpose which it is intended to fulfil; delivering, through a considerable range of pressure beyond that required to raise the bell, the exact quantity of gas for which it has been adjusted. It may be added that the rheometer has an advantage over many instruments of its class, in that it presents so little obstruction to the downward rays of the flame. [Illustration: FIG. 16.--GIROUD'S RHEOMETER.] [Sidenote: Sugg's Christiania governor-burner.] Mr. William Sugg, in his regulator or governor, adopts an entirely different arrangement to the foregoing. The valve is placed at the inlet of the governor; and not at its outlet, as in the instrument just described. Instead of a metal bell, a diaphragm of thin and very flexible leather is employed, which is raised by the pressure of the entering gas, and, in turn, actuates the valve; closing the entrance to the governor in proportion to the pressure of gas acting upon it. The orifice communicating between the under and the upper side of the leather diaphragm is controlled by a screw, whereby the quantity of gas delivered to the burner can be regulated according to requirements; but when once it has been adjusted to give any desired pressure of gas at the burner, this pressure will be strictly maintained, no matter with what excess of pressure (within reasonable limits) the gas may be supplied to the instrument. The improved "London" Argands produced by Mr. Sugg (the details of the construction of which have been already described) are too delicately adjusted to be applied with advantage directly to the ordinary consumer's gas-fittings, or wherever any variation in the pressure of the gas supply is likely to be experienced. However, with the addition to them of the above governor, their use becomes as easy and simple as that of other burners; and thus the gas consumer is enabled to obtain the benefit of the most improved apparatus without being called upon to exercise the constant care and attention which, without the aid of the governor, would be necessitated. Besides being applied to Argands, this governor is successfully applied by its inventor to his flat-flame burners. In conjunction with a simple steatite burner of the latter class, it has received a very extended application, under the name of the Christiania governor-burner. [Sidenote: Sugg's Steatite-float governor-burner.] Recently, however, a new type of governor, for application to burners, has been brought out by the same manufacturer, the construction of which is very different to that of the instrument referred to above; and as it is somewhat simpler in its details, and withal appears to be cheaper in construction, it seems destined to supersede the former instrument. In this new governor, instead of a leather diaphragm, there is a bell (or float) of steatite, which is free to move, in the manner of a piston, within an inner cylindrical chamber contained within the outer case of the instrument. Attached to the centre of the float, and on its upper surface, is a tube sliding within another tube of somewhat larger area; the latter forming a continuation of the inner cylindrical chamber. The smaller tube is open at both ends, and thus communicates from below to above the float; the outer tube is closed at the top, but has an orifice in its side. The action of the instrument is as follows:--The gas, entering below the float, passes through the inner tube to the upper part of the cylindrical chamber, and thence, through the orifice in the outer tube, to the burner. As the pressure of the entering gas exceeds that required to overcome the weight of the float, the latter is raised; the tube which is attached to it being propelled farther into the outer tube in which it slides, and, in so doing, partially closes the orifice in the side of the latter. In this way, according to the pressure of the gas acting upon the under side of the float, the area of the opening through which it must flow to get to the burner is reduced; and so the quantity of gas which issues from the burner remains the same under all pressures above that required to actuate the float. The instrument appears to be as reliable as it is simple, and to contain few parts calculated to get out of order; but, of course, whether or not it will retain its good qualities after long-continued use can only be proved by experience. [Illustration: FIG. 17.--SUGG'S STEATITE-FLOAT GOVERNOR.] [Sidenote: Peebles's needle governor-burner.] [Sidenote: Efficiency of the needle governor-burner.] Another instrument of this class--the last which I shall notice--is Peebles's needle governor-burner. For simplicity combined with remarkable efficiency, it is undoubtedly ahead of all its compeers. Somewhat similar in principle to Giroud's rheometer, it differs from that instrument in many of the details of its construction; and while dispensing with the use of liquid, maintains equal efficiency in operation. It was described as follows by Dr. W. Wallace, in a lecture on "Gas Illumination," delivered before the Society of Arts in January, 1879:[13]--"In a little cylinder stands a so-called needle, on the point of which rests a flanged cone of exceedingly thin metal. At one side of the cylinder there is a small tube leading away the gas, and the orifice of which is influenced in area by the action of the cone. The instrument, by means of a screw leading into the side tube, can be made to deliver any desired number of cubic feet, which it does with surprising accuracy, provided that the pressure of the gas is not less than 6-10ths of an inch." As to the efficiency of the instrument, Dr. Wallace proceeded to state:--"In trials that I have made, I have not found the variations of volume at different pressures to exceed 1 per cent." For situations where this extreme nicety of operation is not absolutely essential, or where the rate of consumption is to be invariable, the instrument is constructed in a somewhat modified and simpler form. The small tube on the side of the instrument is dispensed with, and the gas permitted to pass through perforations in the lower part of the cone. With this alteration there is a nearer approach to the construction of the rheometer; but, as in that instrument, there is no provision for altering the rate of consumption to suit different circumstances. [13] See _Journal of Gas Lighting_, Vol. XXXIII., p. 162. [Illustration: FIG. 18.--PEEBLES'S NEEDLE GOVERNOR.] CHAPTER V. REGENERATIVE BURNERS. [Sidenote: Temperature of a gas flame.] As was remarked in the introduction to this treatise, recent years have witnessed a very considerable advance in the construction of gas-burners, and in the amount of light capable of being developed from each cubic foot of gas consumed. Undoubtedly the most noticeable feature of this advance is the successful application of the regenerative, or, as it would be more appropriately designated, recuperative system. Briefly stated, this consists in utilizing the heat of the products of combustion from the gas flame (which otherwise would be dissipated into the atmosphere) to raise the temperature of the gas before it is ignited; and, likewise, of the air necessary for combustion. The temperature of an illuminating gas flame is usually estimated to be between 2000° and 2400° Fahr.; and as the products of combustion must leave the flame at a temperature little, if at all, inferior to the former figure, it must be evident that there is an ample margin of heat for employment in this direction. A considerable proportion of the large amount of heat conveyed by those products of combustion which, under ordinary circumstances, is imparted to the surrounding atmosphere--often elevating its temperature to an unnecessary and prejudicial extent--is, by this method, returned to the flame; intensifying the process of combustion, and augmenting, in a remarkable degree, the illuminating power developed from the gas consumed. Thus the ultimate effect of the operation is to produce a concentration of heat in the flame, and the conversion of superfluous heat into beneficial light. Within a comparatively recent period, the utility of this process was strongly disputed; and it was stoutly maintained, by many persons, that as the immediate effect of ignition was to cause a temperature of more than 2000° Fahr. to be attained, the heating of the gas and air prior to their combustion could produce little or no beneficial effect upon the illuminating power of the flame. However, the falsity of this view of the case is conclusively demonstrated by practical experiment; the remarkably high results yielded by burners that have been constructed upon the regenerative system sufficiently attesting the correctness of the principles upon which they are founded. Although, in general, both the gas and air supplies are heated, it is chiefly due to the latter that the beneficial effect noticed is produced; and this for two reasons. First, because the quantity of air is so much greater than the gas it is required to consume; being, at the nearest approach to theoretical perfection, fully six times its volume. Second, because four-fifths in volume of the air consists of inert nitrogen, which does not contribute anything to the heat of the flame, but, when applied in its normal, cold condition, abstracts no inconsiderable proportion of heat from it. Yet the heating of the gas itself is not without very appreciable influence. In an ordinary gas flame there is always an area of non-illumination around, and extending to a variable distance from the burner head. This is caused partly by the conduction of heat from the flame by the burner; but, in a greater degree, by the cooling action of the issuing stream of cold gas, as is shown by its extending farther from the burner in proportion to the pressure or velocity with which the gas issues. The prejudicial effect due to the former is obviated to a great extent by constructing the burner of steatite, or other non-conducting material. To remedy the latter, nothing will avail but the heating of the gas supply. [Sidenote: Effects of heating the gas and air.] The effect of heating the gas is to enlarge the area of the illuminating portion of the flame, and, in a minor degree, to enhance the intensity of incandescence to which the carbonaceous particles are raised. When the gas issues from the burner at a temperature little inferior to the temperature of ignition, the hydrocarbons it contains are immediately decomposed; the liberated particles of carbon are raised to the temperature of incandescence; and the illuminating area of the flame is extended downwards, even to the surface of the burner. The heating of the air operates chiefly to produce and maintain a more elevated temperature of the flame; and, in this manner, contributes to the development of a higher illuminating power from the same area of flame. In the case of ordinary gas flames, the cold atmosphere by which they are surrounded, by abstracting heat from the flame, prevents the most favourable conditions for the development of light from being attained. When, however, the air immediately surrounding the flame has been previously heated, the particles of carbon (the incandescence of which furnishes the desired illuminating power) attain to a much more exalted temperature; and, consequently, give out a greater degree of light. But there is yet another direction in which the prior heating of the air supply contributes to the development of improved illuminating power. Being heated, its density is lowered; so that in any given volume of air there is less weight of oxygen than when cold. The consequence is that as less oxygen is presented to a given surface area of flame, the separated particles of carbon remain for a longer period of time in the incandescent condition before being entirely consumed. Thus there are three distinct results produced by heating the gas and air before combustion--namely, first, the particles of carbon are liberated earlier in the flame; second, they are raised to a more exalted temperature; and, third, they remain for a longer time in the incandescent condition. The combined effect of all three is the improved illuminating power developed from the gas consumed. [Illustration: FIG. 19.--BOWDITCH'S REGENERATIVE GAS-BURNER.] [Sidenote: Bowditch's regenerative burner.] So far back as the year 1854, the principle of heating the air supply to an Argand burner, by means of waste heat from the flame, was partially applied, with some success, by the Rev. W. R. Bowditch, M.A., of Wakefield. Mr. Bowditch's burner, which is shown in the accompanying diagram, contained, in addition to the ordinary chimney, an outer glass chimney, which extended for some distance below the inner one, and was closed at the bottom; so that all the air needed to support the combustion of the gas was required to pass down the annular space between the chimneys, and in its passage became intensely heated by contact with the hot surface of the inner chimney, as well as by radiation from the flame itself. This burner contained many defects. Amongst others, the inner chimney could not long withstand the intense heat to which it was subjected, and, in consequence, had to be frequently renewed; the heating of the air was not effected solely by the products of combustion, but, perhaps in a greater degree, by the abstraction of heat from the flame itself; while, at best, this heating was but partial. Yet, these defects notwithstanding, the burner showed very clearly the beneficial results attending even a partial application of the principle; as, in the illuminating power it developed from the gas consumed, a clear gain of 67 per cent. over the ordinary Argand burner was obtained. Although the drawbacks connected with the construction of Mr. Bowditch's burner prevented its ever receiving general, or even extensive adoption, its simplicity has gained for it the distinction of being freely copied by so-called inventors of a later day. [Sidenote: Invention of the Siemens regenerative burner.] It was left to Herr Friedrich Siemens, of Dresden, to produce a burner which, while applying the principle of regenerative heating in the most scientific and complete manner, should also be adapted to the ordinary conditions of gas lighting. After much experimenting on the subject, a burner embodying the essential features of the regenerative system was invented by this gentleman in 1879; and so great was the advance which its performances manifested over anything previously attained, so wide the prospect of further achievements which was opened out, that it may fairly be said to have inaugurated a new era in gas illumination. In this burner the products of combustion were made to give up a considerable portion of their heat to the gas and air, as the latter passed to the point of ignition; the flame itself not being called upon to contribute in any degree to this result. Although, as was but natural, the first attempts towards the construction of such a burner were very crude, and but partially successful in their results, the inventor persevered in his endeavours to work out his ideas into practical and thoroughly satisfactory shape. It was not until after it had gone through many modifications that the burner acquired the peculiar form which now distinguishes it, and attained to its present stage of perfection. Before proceeding to describe an example of the burner as now constructed, it is necessary to state that the principles embodied in Herr Siemens's invention are equally well adapted--and, indeed, are applied with equal success--to the construction of flat-flame and Argand burners; but as the distinctive features of the invention are common to both classes of burners, it will be quite sufficient to describe in detail one of the latter type. A prominent feature in the appearance of the Siemens burner, as will be seen from the annexed illustration, is a large metal chimney, for creating a draught to carry away the products of combustion. The entrance to this chimney is situated a little above the apex of the flame; but there is a branch flue connecting the main chimney with the interior of the burner. The body of the burner is of metal, and its interior is divided into three concentric chambers. Of these, the innermost is open at the top, and is surmounted by a porcelain cylinder, which, when the gas is lighted, is surrounded by the flame. This chamber is closed at the bottom, but communicates at the side with the before-mentioned branch tube, or flue, leading to the main chimney. The intermediate chamber communicates, at its lower extremity, with the gas supply; and terminates, a short distance from the top of the burner, in a number of small metal tubes, which convey the gas to the point of ignition. The outer chamber is open both at top and bottom, and is for conveying air to support the combustion of the gas. In order to promote greater intensity of combustion, there is a notched deflector at the summit of the latter chamber, and another on the lower part of the porcelain cylinder, which cause the air to impinge more directly upon both sides of the flame. There is also an arrangement for introducing air between the outer casing of the air chamber and the glass chimney which encloses the flame; its object being to keep the chimney cool. [Illustration: ELEVATION. ENLARGED SECTION OF COMBUSTION CHAMBERS. FIG. 20.--SIEMENS'S REGENERATIVE GAS-BURNER.] [Sidenote: Action of the Siemens burner.] The action of the burner is as follows:--When the gas is ignited at the ring of tubes, the heated air and products of combustion, which rise from the flame, create a draught in the main chimney. Through the communication established by means of the lateral flue, a partial vacuum, or area of low pressure, is induced in the innermost chamber of the burner, and within the porcelain cylinder which surmounts it. As the flame terminates close to the mouth of the latter, the greater portion of the products of combustion, instead of going into the main chimney, are sucked into the porcelain cylinder; and thus a current is set up through the interior of the burner, and by the lateral flue, to the main chimney. The heat carried away by the products of combustion is communicated, through the walls of the chambers, to the entering gas and air; and by this means the latter are heated to a very high temperature before they issue from the burner and are consumed. The consequence is that a much greater intensity of combustion is maintained; the carbon particles are separated earlier in the flame, and are raised to a more exalted temperature; and the ultimate effect is a higher yield in illuminating power per cubic foot of gas consumed. Independent tests by various experienced photometrists have conclusively shown that a light equivalent to that from 5 to 6 candles is obtained per cubic foot, from gas which, in the standard "London" Argand, yields a light of only from 3 to 3-1/2 candles. [Sidenote: Defects of the Siemens burner.] While the advantages of the Siemens burner are many and obvious, it is not without its disadvantages. These partly arise from causes connected with the very observance of the conditions necessary to secure the efficiency of the burner. With every advance in the more efficient operation of gas-burners, increased care and attention are demanded in their employment, in order to obtain the benefits they are calculated to yield. Indeed, it would almost appear that the nearer the approach to perfection which is made in the construction of a burner, the greater must be the drawbacks to its general adoption. Thus, in the burner under notice, if the gas supply is allowed to become in excess, the tail of the flame enters the porcelain cylinder, and soot is deposited in the interior of the burner; obstructing the passages, and impairing the burner's action. Then, to cause the burner to yield its highest results, it is necessary that the air supply be accurately adjusted to the quantity of gas being consumed. To this end the entrance to the air chamber, at the bottom of the burner, is covered by a perforated semi-circular cup, by turning which the quantity of air entering the burner can be increased or diminished as required. Moreover, the bulky construction of the burner, with its accompaniment of chimney and flue, and its complicated arrangement of tubes and chambers, imparts to it a somewhat clumsy and inelegant appearance, which is calculated to impair the favour with which its remarkable performances cause it to be regarded. But these drawbacks are far outweighed by the undoubted advantages conferred by the burner--in improved illumination combined with economy of combustion, and the facilities it affords for securing perfect ventilation. Encouraged by the success of Herr Siemens, other inventors have followed in his footsteps; with the result that there are now a variety of burners before the public, embodying the same principles, but differing in the details of their construction and in the measure of their efficiency. Of these may be mentioned Grimston's, Thorp's, and Clark's; and without describing in detail the construction of the several burners (of which further particulars will be found in the "Register of Patents" in the _Journal of Gas Lighting_[14]), it must suffice to refer to the salient points and distinctive features of each. [14] See Vol. XL., pp. 786, 950; and Vol. XLII, p. 836. [Sidenote: Grimston's regenerative burner.] Grimston's burner (shown on the next page) consists, in effect, of an Argand burner turned upside down; the gas issuing from the bottom ends of a number of small tubes placed in a circle. The jets of flame--first directed downwards from the mouths of these tubes--by a conoidal deflector in the centre of the ring, are caused to spread outwards, and assume a horizontal direction; and by their amalgamation with each other a continuous sheet or ring of flame is produced. The horizontal direction of the flame is maintained by its passing underneath a metal flange, faced with white porcelain, or other refractory material; the supply of gas being adjusted so that the flame just terminates at the outer edge of this flange. Before entering the chimney, the products of combustion are caused to flow through a number of vertical tubes contained in a cylinder, which is concentric to an inner cylinder containing the gas-supply tubes. The outer cylinder is traversed by the air needed for the support of combustion, which is to become heated before reaching the point of ignition; and in order the more completely to enable the products of combustion to impart their heat to the entering air, the cylinder is further intersected by strips of wire gauze, which pass around and between the tubes (see fig. 22, on next page). By these means the air is intensely heated; and, passing among the narrow burner tubes through which the gas is conveyed, gives up a portion of its heat to the latter before the point of ignition is reached. Thus, in a very simple manner, both air and gas are raised to a considerable temperature before combustion takes place. With regard to the efficiency of the burner, at the exhibition of gas appliances held at Stockport in 1882 (where a gold medal was awarded to it, as well as to Thorp's burner, to be referred to hereafter), with a consumption per hour of 9·84 cubic feet of 17·5 candle gas, an illuminating power of 60·67 candles was obtained (equal to 6·16 candles per cubic foot); while, on another occasion, when the burner was consuming 8·94 cubic feet per hour, an illuminating power of 51·5 candles (equal to 5·76 candles per cubic foot) was obtained from gas of the same quality. It is claimed for this burner that equally good results are obtained with small sizes as with large; and this, if borne out in actual practice, should go far towards ensuring the success and extensive adoption of the burner. [Illustration: FIG. 21.--GRIMSTON'S REGENERATIVE GAS-BURNER.] [Illustration: FIG. 22.--GRIMSTON'S BURNER. PLAN, SHOWING REGENERATING ARRANGEMENT.] [Illustration: FIG. 23.--THORP'S REGENERATIVE GAS-BURNER.] [Sidenote: Thorp's regenerative burner.] Thorp's burner produces a cylindrical flame, like that of the Argand, but without the aid of a glass chimney which is a necessary adjunct to the latter burner. By means of a deflector on the inner side of the flame, the latter is made to curve outwards and assume a somewhat convex form, so as to obviate the shadow which otherwise would be cast by the gas chamber at the bottom of the burner. Above the flame is a cylindrical chimney, divided by a vertical partition into two concentric chambers, which are intersected by a series of metal gills, or projections, continued through both chambers. The outer chamber is for conveying away the products of combustion; the inner one for the passage of air to feed the flame; while down the centre of the inner chamber there passes a tube conveying the gas to the point of ignition. The hot products of combustion pass up from the flame through the outer chamber, and give up the greater portion of their heat to the projections; by which it is conducted into the inner chamber, and transferred to the incoming air. A common imperfection of regenerative burners is that, in consequence of the diminished rate at which the gas flows through the burner when expanded by heat, when starting the burner the gas must be only partially turned on, and the quantity gradually increased as the burner becomes heated; thus necessitating considerable attention. To prevent the need for this attention, there is in Thorp's burner an ingenious contrivance for automatically regulating the quantity of gas admitted to the flame. The central gas-tube, which is referred to above, contains a brass rod, fixed at one end, and at the other connected to a valve controlling the quantity of gas that enters the tube. At first, when the gas is lighted, this valve is almost closed; but as the rod becomes heated it elongates, gradually opening the valve until the full quantity of gas is admitted which the burner is intended to consume. At the Stockport exhibition, Thorp's burner was tested with the following results, as recorded in the Judges' report. After it had burned about two hours, "it gave an illuminating power of 183 standard candles, while burning 27 cubic feet of gas per hour (equal to 6·77 standard candles per cubic foot), with gas of 3·5 candles per cubic foot.... In another experiment with the same quality of gas, after burning half an hour it yielded, under similar conditions, 154 candles with a consumption of 25·29 cubic feet per hour, which gave an illuminating power of 6·02 candles per cubic foot." [Sidenote: Clark's regenerative burner.] There is nothing in Clark's burner that calls for special notice. In its main features it appears to be constructed upon similar lines to Grimston's burner, although the coincidence is doubtless only accidental.[15] It must, however, be added that in the details of its construction it is much simpler than the latter burner; and certainly it appears to lose very little in efficiency from its greater simplicity, as the following extract from a report by Mr. F. W. Hartley, the well-known photometrist, will show:--"With a consumption rate of 5·3 cubic feet of gas per hour, the amount of light yielded horizontally was equal to 29·79 times that of a standard candle. The light yielded per cubic foot of gas burned per hour was therefore equal to 5·62 times that of a standard candle." And the amount of light delivered immediately downwards is said to be "very sensibly greater than the amount of light delivered horizontally." Like the Grimston burner, it is of the inverted Argand form; the gas issuing from a chamber at the bottom of a tube which descends through the centre of the burner. The products of combustion escape through a chimney; and in so doing give up a portion of their heat to the entering air, which is conveyed to the point of ignition through horizontal tubes that intersect the chimney. The burner is enclosed in a suitable lantern, the lower half of which consists of a semi-globular glass; a similar arrangement being adopted in connection with the Grimston and Thorp burners. [15] In justice to Mr. Clark it should be mentioned that, since the above appeared in the _Journal of Gas Lighting_, the attention of the writer has been called to the fact (which had been overlooked by him) that Clark's patent was taken out some months before that of either Grimston or Thorp. [Illustration: FIG. 24.--CLARK'S REGENERATIVE GAS-BURNER.] The three burners last mentioned have not been before the public sufficiently long to enable a reliable opinion to be formed as to their value in actual and prolonged use. Although there is no reason for supposing that such will occur in the present instance, it so often happens that the results indicated by apparatus in the experimental stage, or while still under the control of the inventor, are not borne out in practice, that it would be unwise to express any decided opinion as to their ultimate worth from existing information. It is, however, to be earnestly hoped that the marked favour with which they have been received will not be impaired on improved acquaintance; but that further experience will justify the anticipations that have been excited by the excellent performances of the burners hitherto, and demonstrate at once their durability and real usefulness. Since writing the above, considerable activity has been shown by inventors in producing new burners upon the regenerative principle, or in improving upon existing models. Of course, as yet it is too early to arrive at a satisfactory estimate of their actual value or relative worth; but it may be hoped that, from the increased attention being devoted to the subject, some real and practical results will flow, by which the gas-consuming public will be the gainers. So far, the most promising of this class of burners that has been brought into actual use, since the introduction of the Siemens burner, is the one represented below. [Illustration: FIG. 25.--BOWER AND THORP'S REGENERATIVE GAS-BURNER.] It is a modification, in the direction of greater simplicity, of Thorp's former burner, illustrated and described on p. 69 of this treatise; and as its construction is based upon the same lines as that burner, further description is not required. CHAPTER VI. INCANDESCENT BURNERS. A review of gas-burners would scarcely be complete without some reference to the incandescent burners of M. Clamond and Mr. Lewis. Although their dependence upon an artificially produced blast or current of air removes them from the list of appliances applicable to ordinary conditions, the remarkable results which they afford, not less than their originality, demand for them at least a passing notice. The production of light by the agency of these burners is brought about in a manner altogether different, and is due to quite other causes than those which are concerned in the production of an ordinary illuminating gas flame. In the latter case, the illuminating power developed is solely due to the hydrocarbons contained in the gas, which are decomposed by the heat of the flame, the separated carbon being raised to a white heat. In the former, the illuminating power is not obtained directly from the gas; but advantage is taken of the heat of the flame, enhanced by the application of a blast of air, to raise to incandescence some refractory foreign material, which latter is thus made to give out light. In the Clamond burner this refractory substance is a basket composed of magnesia, spun into threads; in the Lewis burner it is a cage of platinum wire. To the unthinking reader it may perhaps appear somewhat surprising that results so remarkable as are yielded by these burners should be obtained, while disregarding, as a source of light, the hydrocarbons contained in gas, and employing them, in common with the other constituents, solely as a source of heat. An explanation, however, is readily forthcoming. As was shown in a former part of this treatise,[16] the great bulk of ordinary coal gas consists of constituents which, in the act of combustion, produce considerable heat, but scarcely any light; the illuminating power developed in an ordinary gas flame being almost wholly dependent upon the very small proportion of heavy hydrocarbons which the gas contains. Thus, the quantity of heat-producing elements contained in the gas being quite disproportionate to the light-yielding hydrocarbons, there is always produced, in an ordinary gas flame, more heat than is necessary for effectively consuming the free carbon, which is liberated in the flame by the decomposition of the heavy hydrocarbons. This is shown by the fact that coal gas can usually be naphthalized--that is, impregnated with the vapour of naphtha--to a considerable extent before the limit of effective combustion is reached. The object aimed at in the incandescent burners about to be described is to utilize, in the development of illuminating power, the combined heat produced by the combustion of all the constituents of the gas. To this end the heat of combustion is brought to bear upon, and caused to raise to incandescence, some refractory material, extraneous to, but brought within the operation of the flame. [16] See Chap. II., p. 21. [Sidenote: Effect of injecting a blast of air into a gas flame.] A further explanation of the superior results yielded by these burners may be found in the employment of an artificial blast or current of air. Indeed, without some such arrangement the desired end could not be attained. The heat developed by the unaided flame is diffused over too wide an area to raise the temperature of the heated substance to the necessary degree of incandescence to enable it to give out sufficient light. By injecting a current of air into its midst, the flame is condensed into a smaller compass; and is brought to bear more directly upon the precise locality where its heat may be most effectively employed. Thus, although the total quantity of heat developed remains exactly the same as before, it is concentrated upon a smaller surface of the refractory substance; and the latter is consequently more intensely heated, or, in other words, raised to a more exalted temperature. The very superior illuminating power which is thereby obtained is due to the circumstance that the quantity of light yielded by an incandescent body increases in a higher ratio than the temperature to which it is raised. [Sidenote: Lewis's incandescent gas-burner.] Proceeding now to describe the burners. The one invented by Mr. Lewis (various forms of which are illustrated on the next page) consists of an upright tube, connected at its base to the gas supply, and surmounted by a cap or cage of platinum wire gauze; which latter constitutes a combustion chamber, as it is there that the mixture of gas and air is consumed. Into the lower part of the upright tube the nozzle of an air-pipe is inserted, through which a supply of air can be injected, under pressure, into the burner, after the manner of a blowpipe. There are also small branch tubes leading into the upright gas-tube, and open to the atmosphere. Through these an additional quantity of air enters the burner; being drawn or sucked in by the agency of the main current, which flows through the upright tube. The resemblance to an ordinary Bunsen burner is, therefore, very close. The mixture of gas and air thus produced, when ignited, burns at the platinum cap; the heat which is developed causing the latter to become highly incandescent, and so to give out a brilliant light. To prevent the conduction of heat from the incandescent platinum, through the upright tube, a non-conducting material--such, for instance, as steatite or porcelain--is interposed between the gauze cap and the metal tube. [Illustration: FIG. 26.--LEWIS'S INCANDESCENT GAS-BURNER.] The light produced by this burner is said to approximate more closely to daylight than that yielded by an ordinary gas flame (the colours of textile fabrics, for instance, being shown as well by its aid as by daylight); while, on account of its resulting from the incandescence of a fixed body, instead of being emitted from a flame, it is unaffected by a gust of wind, and maintains perfect steadiness under every condition of weather. The illuminating power developed is stated to be equal to 5 standard candles per cubic foot of gas consumed. [Sidenote: Clamond's incandescent gas-burner.] M. Clamond's burner, which is shown in fig. 27, is a much more complicated apparatus than the preceding one, and not so easily described; but its main features may be briefly enumerated as follows:--The air (which, as in Mr. Lewis's burner, is supplied under pressure) is divided, as it enters the apparatus, into two portions. One portion is at once mixed with the gas; the remainder being conveyed, through a peculiarly constructed tube composed of small pieces of refractory material, to the combustion chamber, or "wick," as it is termed, of the burner. This "wick" is a small conical basket, made of a kind of lacework of spun magnesia, which, when raised to incandescence by the heat produced by the combustion of the gas, furnishes the desired illumination. The mixture of gas and air is subdivided, by a "distributor," into two portions, one of which goes direct to the magnesia "wick," there to be burnt, while the other is distributed among a number of tubes, forming so-called "auxiliary burners," the flames of which are utilized to heat the chief air supply; being directed upon the sides of the before-mentioned tube of refractory material, through which it is conveyed. By this means the air is raised to a very high temperature (1000° C., or 1800° Fahr., it is said) before it impinges upon the flame. The result is the production of a most intense heat within the magnesia basket; the latter being raised to brilliant incandescence, and so developing a high illuminating power. [Illustration: FIG. 27.--CLAMOND'S INCANDESCENT GAS-BURNER.] The magnesia basket must be renewed after being in use a period of from 40 to 60 hours, as it gradually deteriorates by the action of the intense heat to which it is subjected; but as the cost is said to be insignificant, this should not be a great drawback. The basket is placed at the base of the burner, in order to obviate the shadow which would otherwise be cast by the apparatus; and it is attached to the main body of the apparatus by platinum wires. As to illuminating power, the only particulars which have been made public refer to the first two models constructed; one of which was said to develop a light equal to that from 6·208 candles, and the other to 9·72 candles per cubic foot of gas consumed. [Illustration: FIG. 28.--CLAMOND'S IMPROVED INCANDESCENT BURNER.] [Sidenote: Clamond's new burner.] In a recently designed modification of the burner (which is shown in the accompanying illustration) M. Clamond dispenses with an artificial supply of air under pressure, and endeavours to obtain similar results by other and simpler means. To this end the position of the magnesia "wick" is reversed (it being placed at the top of the apparatus); the current of gas is allowed to draw in upon itself a quantity of air by a precisely similar arrangement to that adopted in the Bunsen burner; while an additional supply of air is drawn upon the flame by the accelerated draught produced by the aid of a glass chimney. As in the more complicated and complete burner, the air supply is heated by means of auxiliary burners in the interior of the apparatus. It has been stated, on the authority of M. Clamond, that this modified burner develops, from the gas consumed, a duty of about 6 candles per cubic foot; being equal to the results yielded by the more complicated apparatus. Should this be borne out in practice, M. Clamond will have achieved a noteworthy success. It is, however, advisable to reserve expressing any definite opinion of its merits until further information is received, or until the burner has been tried in this country. CHAPTER VII. CONCLUSION. The burners last mentioned may be said to mark the extent of the progress that has been made, down to the present time, in the construction of apparatus for developing light from coal gas; and they remind me that I have arrived at the conclusion of my subject. From the unpretending gas-jet described by Accum--burning, with wonder-provoking steadiness and constancy, "so long as the supply of gas continued"--to the complicated apparatus of M. Clamond, is a long stretch of invention; embracing the labours of many distinct and original workers in the same field, and including numerous variations in the details of burners that have not been touched upon in the foregoing remarks. As was announced in the introduction, I have dealt in this treatise only with the more important or the more successful of the modifications that have been made from time to time in the construction of the gas-burner. In addition to the burners that have been referred to, there have been invented many others, which could not be adequately noticed without prolonging the treatise to an undue length. Some of these (the fruit of much thought and careful experiment) have obtained, in the commercial success that has attended them, no more than their merited reward; others (devoid of any real merit, and in their construction disregarding the most elementary principles of economic combustion) have been brought into somewhat extensive use by the misleading statements and false representations of their inventors, and are only tolerated through the ignorance of the public; while not a few of the latter class of burners have speedily found the oblivion which they richly deserved. Sufficient, however, has been said to show that many real improvements have been effected in the construction of gas-burners, and to prove that, with the apparatus now available, a far higher duty may be obtained from the gas consumed than was possible only a few years ago. But although the great advance that has been made in the construction of gas-burners is undoubted, the benefits which ought to result therefrom have not been realized by the gas-consuming public; nor are they likely to be to their full extent. While the ingenious and effective inventions for utilizing the waste heat of combustion, and for lighting by incandescence, may, and doubtless will, in the course of a few years, be far more extensively adopted than at present, it is hardly to be expected that they will be generally employed. Two causes operate to preclude the latter result--namely, their first cost, and the care and attention demanded in their employment. It seems tolerably certain that for a long time yet the great bulk of coal gas, used for lighting purposes, will be consumed through the simple flat-flame burners that have done so much hitherto for the furtherance of gas lighting. Fortunately so much has been done towards the perfection of this class of burners, that, for a very slight expenditure, results may now be obtained far in advance of what could formerly be produced only by the most costly and delicate apparatus. For ordinary situations and requirements, the improved flat-flame burners produced by Bray, Brönner, and Sugg, when intelligently employed, leave scarcely anything to be desired. _When intelligently employed_, I repeat, and with cautious emphasis; for the best of burners will be extravagant and ineffective if employed without due regard to the conditions for which it was made. That which is most needed at the present day, and which will best ensure the continued use of coal gas for the purposes of illumination, is the more general diffusion amongst gas consumers of a knowledge of the principles of combustion, and of the simple precautions to be taken and conditions to be fulfilled in the employment of gas-burners. The apparatus that is available is both varied and effective; what is wanted is the knowledge to use it aright. By contributing to the freer dissemination of that knowledge, purveyors of gas will confer no inconsiderable benefits upon their customers, and, at the same time, will assuredly promote their own interests. 
50575	----	FIREMEN AND THEIR EXPLOITS: WITH SOME ACCOUNT _OF THE RISE AND DEVELOPMENT OF FIRE-BRIGADES, OF VARIOUS APPLIANCES FOR SAVING LIFE AT FIRES AND EXTINGUISHING THE FLAMES_. BY F. M. HOLMES, AUTHOR OF "ENGINEERS AND THEIR TRIUMPHS," "MINERS AND THEIR WORKS UNDERGROUND," ETC. LONDON: S. W. PARTRIDGE & CO., 8 & 9, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1899. [Illustration: THE NEW HORSED FIRE-ESCAPE, DESIGNED BY COMMANDER WELLS, CHIEF OFFICER OF THE METROPOLITAN FIRE-BRIGADE.] [Illustration] PREFACE. The present volume, though complete in itself, forms one of a series seeking to describe in a popular and non-technical manner the Triumphs of Engineers. The same style has, therefore, been followed which was adopted in the preceding volumes. The profession of Engineering has exercised great influence on the work of Fire Extinguishment, as on some other things; and the subject is, therefore, not inappropriate to the series of books of which the volume forms part. The story of the Fire-Engine begins in Egypt about a hundred and fifty years before Christ. Hero of Alexandria describes a contrivance called the "siphon used in conflagrations," and some persons are of opinion that he was not unacquainted with the use of the air-chest. But it was not until nearly two thousand years later--that is, about the close of the seventeenth century--that the air-chamber and the hose seem to have been brought into anything like general use,--if, indeed, the use can be called general even then. Much of the story is involved in obscurity, or it may be there was little story to tell; but by the year 1726, Newsham had constructed satisfactory fire-engines in London; and Braithwaite the engineer--who with Ericsson constructed the "Novelty" to compete with Stephenson's "Rocket" at the locomotive contest at Rainhill in 1829--built a steam fire-engine about 1830, though it was not until thirty years, or more, later that the use of the machine became general. As to Fire-Brigades, the Insurance Companies, which began to appear after the Great Fire of 1666, were wont to employ separate staffs of men to extinguish fires; but by the year 1833, the more important had united, and the London Fire-Brigade had been formed under the control of Mr. James Braidwood. Many provincial towns followed the metropolitan model in forming their brigades. Together with the development of the Fire-Engine and of efficient brigades has been the introduction of various other appliances, such as Fire-Escapes, Chemical Extinctors, Water-Towers, and the great improvement in the water supply. Nothing is more striking in the history of conflagrations than the comparison between the dry state of the New River pipes at the Great Fire of 1666 and the copious flood of five million gallons poured into the city in a few hours by the same company to quench the great Cripplegate fire of November, 1897. But, indeed, the whole realm of Fire Extinguishment is a world of constant improvement and strain after perfection. To describe something of these efforts, and trace out the main features of their story, is the object of the present volume. [Illustration] CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. THE HORSED FIRE-ESCAPE APPEARS. AN EXCITING SCENE 9 II. THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY. HERO'S "SIPHON." HOW THE ANCIENTS STROVE TO EXTINGUISH FIRES 17 III. IN MEDIÆVAL DAYS. AN EPOCH-MAKING FIRE 20 IV. THE PEARL-BUTTON MAKER'S CONTRIVANCE. THE MODERN FIRE-ENGINE 36 V. EXTINGUISHMENT BY COMPANY. THE BEGINNINGS OF FIRE INSURANCE 47 VI. THE STORY OF JAMES BRAIDWOOD 53 VII. THE THAMES ON FIRE. THE DEATH OF BRAIDWOOD 58 VIII. A PERILOUS SITUATION. CAPTAIN SHAW. IMPROVEMENTS OF THE METROPOLITAN BOARD AND OF THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL 67 IX. A VISIT TO HEADQUARTERS 83 X. HOW RECRUITS ARE TRAINED 98 XI. SOME STORIES OF THE BRIGADE 111 XII. FIRE-ESCAPES AND FIRE-FLOATS 123 XIII. CHEMICAL FIRE-ENGINES. FIRE-PROOFING, OR MUSLIN THAT WILL NOT FLAME 134 XIV. THE WORK OF THE LONDON SALVAGE CORPS. THE GREAT CRIPPLEGATE FIRE 144 XV. ACROSS THE WATER 156 [Illustration: OFF TO THE FIRE.] FIREMEN AND THEIR EXPLOITS. CHAPTER I. THE HORSED FIRE-ESCAPE APPEARS. AN EXCITING SCENE. "Shall we have a quiet night, Jack?" "Can't say," replied Jack philosophically; "I take it as it comes." Clang! Even as he spoke, the electric fire-alarm rang through the silent station. The men sprang toward the stables, glancing at the bell-tablet as they ran. The tablet revealed the name of the street whence the alarm had been sounded; and at the clang the horses tossed their heads and pawed the ground, mad to be off. They knew the sound of the alarm as well as the men themselves. "Will it be a life-saving job, d'ye think, mate?" "May be," was Jack's sententious reply; "you never know." The horses were standing ready harnessed, and were unloosed at once. They were led to the engine, the traces hooked on, the crew, as the staff of firemen is called, took their places, and the doors in front of them were opened smartly by rope and pulley. "Ready?" "Aye, aye, sir!" "Right away!" In less than two minutes from the ringing of the alarm, the engine was rushing out of the station, and tearing along London streets with exciting clatter, the firemen shouting their warning cry, and sparks flying from the funnel. Soon the engine fire was roaring below, and the steam was hissing for its work. How had the firemen obtained a blazing fire and hot steam so soon? When the engine was waiting in the station, a lighted gas-jet, kept near the boiler, maintained the water at a high temperature; and while the horses were being hooked on, a large fusee, called a "steam-match," had been promptly ignited, and dropped flaming down the funnel. The match fell through the water-tube boiler to the fuel in the fire-box below; the draught caused by the rush of the engine through the air helped the fire; and the water being already so hot, steam pressure soon arose. "The new escape's close behind!" cried one of the men, as the engine hurried along. Something, unusual then, to London streets was rapidly following the steamer. In the gloom, it looked like a dim spectral ladder projecting over the horses in front, and several men could be seen sitting on the carriage conveying it. "She's a-comin' on pretty fast," exclaimed one of the men; "she travels as smart as an engine." Indeed, the new escape was now so near, that it could be seen more clearly. It was securely mounted on a low car, and its large wheels hung over the end at the back, not far above the ground. Designed by Commander Wells, chief officer of the London Fire-Brigade, it was brought into use in the brigade in July, 1897. But now it was nearing the fire, and cheers and cries rang loudly from the excited crowd gathered at the spot. "Make way for the escape! Hurrah! Hurrah!" No wonder the crowd were excited. On the second-floor window of a large building appeared three white, eager faces, framed by the dark sashes, and crying eagerly for help. Cheer after cheer rent the air, as the escape drew up opposite, and was slipped from its car; then, resting on its own wheels, it was pitched near the burning building, and its ladders run up to the window. The policemen could scarce keep back the thronging crowd. Away go the firemen up the rungs of the ladder, and amid continued cheers, and cries, and great excitement approach the sufferers in their peril. "They've got one!" shouts an excited voice. "Aye, and there's another!" cries a second spectator. "They're all three saved!" vociferates a third; and loud cheers greet the firemen's triumph. It was a smart piece of work; and with the rescued persons thrown over their shoulders in the efficient manner they are taught at drill, the firemen carefully descend the ladder one after the other, and amid shouts and plaudits arrive safely on the ground. The flames dart out of the building more fiercely than ever, as if in anger at losing their prey; the glare and heat grow more intense; the smoke rolls off in dense volumes; the fire is raging furiously. Engine after engine rushes fast to the spot, the loud, alarming cries of "Fire-ire! Fire-ire!" echoing shrilly along the lamp-lighted thoroughfares; fireman after fireman leaps from the arriving engines, and with their bright brass helmets flashing in the glare are quickly stationed round the huge conflagration. The "brigade call" has been telephoned all round London, and from east and west, and north and south, engines and firemen have hurried to the spot. Steamers with sparks flying, steam hissing, and whistles shrieking; manuals with the clatter of their handles; hose-carts with their lengths of flexible pipes; and tall ladders of fire-escapes, useful, even when no life is to be saved, as high points of vantage whence firemen can direct streams of water straight into the raging fire,--all--all are here. One after another they arrive, until the word is passed that more than twenty engines and a hundred and twenty firemen are concentrated on the spot. Hydrants also are at work. They are appliances, permanently fixed under the pathway, from which firemen can obtain a powerful pressure of water, ranging from thirty-five to seventy pounds per square inch. From the steamers and the hydrants the quantity of water poured on the huge fire is now immense, and the steam and smoke roll off in immense volumes. Crash! "There goes the glass!" cries a fireman; and a few moments later it is rumoured that one of the brigade has been badly cut in the hands. The skylight had broken and fallen upon him, showing that it is not only from heat and smoke that the men are likely to suffer, but also from falling parts of the burning building. The huge fire is fought at every possible point. It is prevented from spreading to surrounding buildings by deluging them with water, and strenuous efforts are made to quench it at its source. Steadily in the growing light of day the firemen work on; but the morning had far advanced before the great conflagration was fully extinguished and the London Salvage Corps were left in possession of the ruined premises. "Well, you've had your first big fire, Newall; how d'ye like it?" "Oh, it's all right, mate; it's pretty hard work, but I don't mind it." "'Tain't all over yet," said Jack cheerfully; "there's this 'ere hose to be scrubbed and cleaned, and hung up in the well to dry. I reckon it will be four or five o'clock before we can turn in." Jack was right. The wet hose had to be suitably treated to keep it in good condition, and the engines carefully prepared for the next alarm that might arise; and when the men turned in to rest, they slept sound enough. This story not only illustrates the work of the London Fire-Brigade, but also points to a notable fact in its history. That fact is the introduction of the horsed fire-escape. The first rescue in London by this valuable appliance took place on October 17th, 1898. There were, in fact, two disastrous fires raging at nearly the same time on that day, and the new appliance was used at one of these. Early in the morning, a disastrous fire broke out in Manresa Road, Chelsea. The conflagration originated in the centre of a large timber-yard, and spread so rapidly that a very serious fire was soon in progress. Engines and firemen hurried up from various quarters, until sixteen steamers, three manuals, and more than a hundred men were on the spot. The fire was completely surrounded, and the enormous quantity of water poured upon the blazing wood soon took effect. But before all the engines had left, news came that a still more serious fire had broken out in Oxford Street. The extensive premises of Messrs. E. Tautz & Co., wholesale tailors, were discovered to be in flames, and the alarm was brought to the fire-stations from various sources. The Orchard Street fire-alarm rang into Manchester Square station, and resulted in the horsed escape being turned out; then another fire-alarm rang into Great Marlborough Street fire-station, and the horsed escape had hurried from this point also. The appliance was new, and for some time the men of the brigade had cherished a laudable ambition to be the first to use the escape in what they call a life-saving job. And it was only by an untoward chance, or simple fortune of war, that the men of the Manchester Square station, who were first on the spot, missed the coveted honour. When they arrived on the scene, no sign of fire was visible in Oxford Street itself, and the firemen were pointed to North Row, one of the boundaries of the burning block behind. They made their way thither, searching for inmates, but were driven back by the fierce flames. Meantime, the three persons sleeping on the premises--the foreman, Mr. Harry Smith, his wife, and their little son, aged six years--had been endeavouring to escape by the staircase, but had been driven back by the fire. Mr. Smith had been awakened by the dense smoke filling the room, and he aroused his wife at once and took the boy in his arms. Not being able to escape by the staircase, they hurried to the front of the large block of buildings, shutting the doors after them as they went. So it happened that they appeared at the second-floor windows facing Oxford Street just as the horsed escape from Great Marlborough Street fire-station hurried up. A scene of great excitement followed. The firemen ran the ladders from the escape to the building, and brought down all three persons in safety; but Mrs. Smith unfortunately had suffered a burn on the left leg. It is probable that, but for the rapidity with which the horsed escapes arrived on the scene, the family might have suffered much more severely; for the fire was very fierce, and soon appeared in Oxford Street. The honour, therefore, of the first rescue by the new horsed escape rests with the Great Marlborough Street station, though the efforts of their brave comrades of the Manchester Square station should always be remembered in connection therewith. Commander Wells appreciated this; for he telephoned a special message to Superintendent Smith, saying: "Please let your men understand that I thoroughly appreciate and approve their action on arrival at the fire this morning, although the honour of rescue falls by the fortune of war to the second horse-escape." The fire proved very disastrous, and a large force was speedily concentrated. It was eventually subdued; but it was about two o'clock in the afternoon before the brigade were able to leave, a large warehouse belonging to Messrs. Peel & Co., boot-makers, being also involved, and other buildings more or less damaged. The horsed fire-escape, which was found so useful on this occasion, is but one among several appliances for saving life and fighting the fire. These appliances are worked by highly-trained brigades of firemen, whose efficient organization, well-considered methods, and ingenious apparatus form one of the remarkable features of the time. They did not reach their present position in a day. Indeed, a stirring story of human effort and of high-spirited enterprise lies behind the well-equipped brigades of the time. Step by step men have won great victories over difficulty and danger; step by step they have profited by terrible disasters, which have spurred them on to fresh efforts. What, then, is this story of the fight against fire? How have the fire-services of the day reached their present great position? CHAPTER II. THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY. HERO'S "SIPHON." HOW THE ANCIENTS STROVE TO EXTINGUISH FIRES. No one knows who invented the modern fire-engine. The earliest machine, so far as is generally known, was described by Hero of Alexandria about a hundred and fifty years before Christ. He called it "the siphon used in conflagrations"; and it seems to have been originated by Ctesibius, a Greek mechanician living in Egypt, whose pupil Hero became. It is very interesting to notice how this contrivance worked. It was fitted with two cylinders, each having a piston connected by a beam. This beam raised and lowered each piston alternately, and with the help of valves--which only opened the way of the jet--propelled water to the fire, but not continuously. The method must have proved very inefficient, especially when compared with the constant stream thrown by the modern fire-engine. Indeed, it is this power to project a steady and continuous stream which chiefly differentiates the modern fire-engine from such machines as Hero's siphon. How far this siphon or any similar contrivance was used in ancient times we cannot say; but no doubt buckets in some form or other were the first appliances used for extinguishing conflagrations. Whenever mankind saw anything valuable burning, the first impulse would be to stamp it out, or quench the flame by throwing water on it; and the water would be conveyed by the readiest receptacle to hand; then when men had discovered the use of the pump, or the squirt, they would naturally endeavour to turn these appliances to account. In some places the use of water-buckets was organized. Juvenal alludes to the instructions of the opulent Licinus, who bade his "servants watch by night, the water-buckets being set ready"; the wealthy man fearing "for his amber, and his statues, and his Phrygian column, and his ivory and broad tortoise-shell." Then Pliny and Juvenal use a term--_hama_--which signifies an appliance for extinguishing fires; but the true rendering seems to be in dispute, some translators being content to describe it simply as a water-vessel. Pliny the Younger refers to _siphones_, or pipes, being employed to extinguish fires; but we do not know how they were used, or whether they resembled Hero's siphon. In fact, the earliest references to fire-engines by Roman writers are regarded by some as being merely allusions to aqueduct-pipes for bringing water to houses, rather than to a special appliance. And from Seneca's remark, "that owing to the height of the houses in Rome it was impossible to save them when they took fire," we may gather that any appliances that may have been in use were very inefficient. A curious primitive contrivance is described by Apollodorus, who was architect to Trajan. It consisted of leathern bags or bottles, having pipes attached; and when the bottles were squeezed, the water gushed through the pipes to extinguish the flames. Augustus was so enterprising as to organize seven bands of firemen, each of which protected two districts of Rome. Each band was in charge of a _tribunus_, or captain, and the whole force was under a _præfectum vigilum_, or prefect of the watch; though what apparatus they employed--whether buckets or pipe-bags, syringes or Hero's siphon--we do not know. But these appliances, or some of them, were no doubt in use at the Great Fire of Rome in A.D. 66. In July of that year--the tenth of the reign of the infamous Emperor Nero--two-thirds of the city was destroyed. The fire broke out at a number of wooden shops built against the side of the great Circus, and near to the low-lying ground between the Palatine and the Cælian Hills. The east wind blew the flames onward to the corner of the Palatine Hill, and there the fire blazed in two directions. It gained such enormous power, that stonework split and fell before it like glass, and building after building succumbed, until at one point it was only stopped by the river, and at another by frowning cliffs. For six awful days and seven nights the fire raged, and then, when it was supposed to have been extinguished, it burst forth again for three more days. The sight must have been appalling. We can picture the huge sheets and tongues of flame sweeping ever onward, the fearful heat, and the immense volumes of smoke which mounted upward and obscured the sky. The panic-stricken people fled to the imperial gardens, but whispered that Nero himself had originated the fire. To divert suspicion, he spread reports that the Christians were the culprits; and they were treated with atrocious cruelty, some being wrapped in fabric covered with pitch and burnt in the Emperor's grounds. The guilt of Nero remains a moot point; but he seems to have acted with some amount of liberality to the sufferers, though his acts of humanity did not free his name from the foul suspicion. The conflagration itself stands out as one of the most terrible in history. Before its furious rage the capable Romans seem to have been reduced to impotence. Their organization, if they had any, seems to have been powerless; and their appliances, if they used any, seem to have been worthless. We are entitled to draw the deduction that they had no machine capable of throwing a steady, continuous stream from a comparatively safe distance. No band of men, however strong and determined, could have stood their ground sufficiently near the fierce fire to throw water from buckets, pipe-bags, or even portable pumps. For small fires they might prove of service, if employed early; but for large conflagrations they would be worthless. And if Rome, the Mistress of the World, was so ill-provided, what must have been the condition of other places? We may infer, therefore, that the means of fire extinction in the ancient world were miserably inadequate. Had mediæval Europe anything better to show? CHAPTER III. IN MEDIÆVAL DAYS. AN EPOCH-MAKING FIRE. "Prithee, good master, what's o' fire?" "A baker's house they say, name of Farryner." "Faith! it's in Pudding Lane, nigh Fish Street Hill," quoth another spectator, coming up. "They say the oven was heated overmuch." "It's an old house, and a poor one," said another speaker. "'Twill burn like touchwood this dry weather." "Aye, it have been dry this August, sure enow; and I reckon the rain won't quench it to-night." And the speaker looked up to the starlit sky, where never a cloud could be seen. "Have they the squirts at work, good-man?" "Aye, no doubt. 'Twill be quenched by morning, neighbour. Faith! 'tis just an old worm-eaten house ablaze, and that's the tale of it." But it was not "the tale of it." A strong east wind was blowing, and the hungry flames spread quickly to neighbouring buildings. These houses were old and partly decayed, and filled with combustible material, such as oil, pitch, and hemp used in shipwright's work. In a comparatively short time the ward of Billingsgate was all ablaze, and the fierce fire, roaring along Thames Street, attacked St. Magnus Church at Bridgefoot. Before the night was far spent, fire-bells were clashing loudly from the steeples, alarming cries of "Fire! Fire!" resounded through the streets, and numbers of people in the old narrow-laned city of London were rushing half dressed from their beds. It was the night of Saturday, September 2nd, 1666, a night ever memorable in the history of London. About ten o'clock, any lingerers on London Bridge--where houses were then built--might have seen a bright flame shoot upward to the north. They probably conversed as we have described, and retired to bed. But the fire spread from the baker's shop, as we have seen, and the confusion and uproar of that terrible night grew ever more apace. Half-dazed persons crowded the streets, encumbered with household goods, and the narrow thoroughfares soon became choked with the struggling throng. But the flames seized upon the goods, and the panic-stricken people fled for their lives before the fierce attack. The lurid light fell on their white faces, and the terrible crackling and roaring of the flames mingled with their shrieks and shouts as they hurried along. Now the night would be obscured by dense clouds of thick smoke, and anon the fire would flash forth again more luridly than ever. To add to the alarm, the cry would ring through the streets, or would be passed from mouth to mouth, that the pipes of the New River Company--then recently laid--were found to be dry. With the suspicion of Romanist plots prevailing, the scarcity of water and the origin of the fire were put down to fanatical incendiaries; or, as an old writer quaintly expressed it, "This doth smell of a popish design." When the next morning dawned, the terrible conflagration, so far from having been extinguished, was raging furiously; the little jets and bucketsful of water, if any had been used, proved of no avail; and the narrow streets became, as it were, great sheets of flame. But was nothing done to extinguish the fire? What appliances would the Londoners have had? Here, perhaps, in the early hours of the conflagration, you might have seen a group of three men at the corner of a street working a hand-squirt. This instrument was of brass, and measured about 3 feet long. Two men held it by a handle on each side; and when the nozzle had been dipped into a bucket or a cistern near, and the water had flowed in, they would raise the squirt, while the third man pushed up the piston to discharge the water. The squirt might hold about four quarts of water. [Illustration: A CITY FIRE TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO.] If one man worked the squirt, he would hold it up by the handles, and push the end of the piston, which was generally guarded by a button, against his chest. But, at the best, it is obvious that the hand-squirt was a very inadequate contrivance. Not far distant you might also have seen a similar squirt, mounted in a wheeled reservoir or cistern, the pistons, perhaps, worked by levers; and, possibly, in yet another street you might have noticed a pump of some kind, also working in a cistern; while here and there you might have come upon lines of persons passing buckets from hand to hand, bringing water either from the wells in the city, or from the river, or actually throwing water on the fire. Such were the appliances which we gather were then used for extinguishing fires. But such contrivances as were then in the neighbourhood of Fish Street Hill appear to have been burnt before they could be used, and the people seem to have been too paralyzed with terror to have attempted any efforts. The suggestion was made to pull down houses, so as to create gaps over which the fire could not pass; and this suggestion no doubt indicates one of the methods of former days. But the method was not at first successful on this occasion. Thus, Pepys, in his Diary, tells us, under date of the Sunday: "At last [I] met my Lord Mayor in Canning Street, like a man spent, with a handkercher about his neck. To the King's message [to pull down houses before the fire] he cried, like a fainting woman, 'Lord! what can I do? I am spent: people will not obey me. I have been pulling down houses; but the fire overtakes us faster than we can do it.'" This is a graphic little picture of the bewilderment of the people; and Pepys goes on to say that, as he walked home, he saw "people all almost distracted, and no manner of means used to quench the fire." [Illustration: THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON (FROM A CONTEMPORARY PRINT).] In a similar manner, another famous eye-witness, John Evelyn, notes in his Diary that "some stout seamen proposed, early enough to have saved nearly the whole city," the destruction of houses to make a wide gap; "but this some tenacious and avaricious men, aldermen, etc., would not permit, because their houses must have been of the first." The main idea, therefore, of extinguishing the fire seems to have lain in the pulling down of houses to produce a wide gap over which the fire could not pass. But at first the civic authorities shrank from such bold measures. On Sunday, then, the flames were rushing fiercely onward, the ancient city echoing to their roaring and to the cries and shrieks of the populace. The houses by London Bridge, in Thames Street, and the neighbourhood were but heaps of smouldering ruins. The homeless people sought refuge in the fields outside the city by Islington and Highgate, and the city train-bands were placed under arms to watch for incendiaries; while, as if the horror of the terrible fire was not enough, numbers of ruffians were found engaged in the dastardly work of plunder. The clanging of the fire-bells, the crackling of the huge fire, the cries and curses of the people, made such a frightful din as can scarce be imagined; while many churches, attended on the previous Sunday by quiet worshippers, were now blazing in the fire. That night the scene was appalling, and yet magnificent. An immense sheet of fire rose to the sky, rendering the heavens for miles like a vast lurid dome. The conflagration flamed a whole mile in diameter, hundreds of buildings were burning, and the high wind bent the huge flames into a myriad curious shapes, and bore great flakes of fire on to the roofs of other houses, kindling fresh flames as they fell. For ten miles distant the country was illumined as at noonday, while the smoke rolled, it is said, for fifty miles. Evelyn describes the scene in his Diary, under date September 3rd: "I had public prayers at home. The fire continuing, after dinner I took coach with my wife and son and went to the Bankside in Southwark, where we beheld the dismal spectacle, the whole city in dreadful flames near the water-side; all the houses from the Bridge, all Thames Street, and upwards towards Cheapside, down to the Three Cranes, were now consumed: and so returned exceeding astonished what would become of the rest. "The fire having continued all this night (if I may call that night which was light as day for ten miles round about, after a dreadful manner) when conspiring with a fierce eastern wind in a very dry season; I went on foot to the same place, and saw the whole south part of the city burning from Cheapside to the Thames and all along Cornhill.... Here we saw the Thames covered with goods floating, all the barges and boats laden with what some had time and courage to save, as, on the other [side], the carts, etc., carrying out to the fields, which for many miles were strewed with moveables of all sorts, and tents erecting to shelter both people and what goods they could get away. Oh the miserable and calamitous spectacle! such as haply the world had not seen the like since the foundation of it, nor be outdone till the universal conflagration of it! All the sky was of a fiery aspect, like the top of a burning oven, and the light seen above forty miles round about for many nights. God grant mine eyes may never behold the like, who now saw above ten thousand houses all in one flame; the noise and cracking and thunder of the impetuous flames, the shrieking of women and children, the hurry of people, the fall of towers, houses, and churches, was like a hideous storm, and the air all about so hot and inflamed that at the last one was not able to approach it, so that they were forced to stand still and let the flames burn on, which they did for near two miles in length and one in breadth. The clouds also of smoke were dismal, and reached, upon computation, near fifty-six miles in length. Thus I left it this afternoon burning, a resemblance of Sodom or the last day." On Monday the Royal Exchange perished in the sea of flame. By evening Cheapside had fallen, and beside the water's edge it was blazing in Fleet Street; while it had also burned backward, even against the wind, along the eastern part of Thames Street, toward Tower Hill. The heat was so terrible that persons could not approach within a furlong, while the very pathways were glowing with fiery heat. Some persons chartered barges and boats, and, filling them with such property as they could save, sent them down the Thames. Others paid large sums for carts to convey property far beyond the city walls. A piteous exodus of sick and sound, aged and young, crawled or fled to the spacious fields beyond the gates. The ground was strewn with movables for miles, and tents were erected to shelter the burned-out multitude. At length St. Paul's succumbed. It had stood tall and strong in the space of its churchyard, lifting its head loftily amid the billows of flame; but at last the terrible fire, driven toward it by the east wind, lapped the roof, and seized some scaffold-poles standing around. The lead on the roof melted in the fierce heat, and ran down the walls in streams; the stones split, and pieces flew off with reports like cannon-shots; and beams fell crashing like thunder to the ground. Evelyn notes, under date September 4th: "The burning still rages, and it was now gotten as far as the Inner Temple; all Fleet Street, the Old Bailey, Ludgate Hill, Warwick Lane, Newgate, Paul's Chain, Watling Street now flaming, and most of it reduced to ashes; the stones of Paul's flew like granados, the melting lead running down the streets in a stream, and the very pavements glowing with fiery redness, so as no horse nor man was able to tread on them, and the demolition had stopped all the passages, so that no help could be applied. The eastern wind still more impetuously driving the flames forward. Nothing but the almighty power of God was able to stop them, for vain was the help of man." On the eastern side of St. Paul's, the old Guildhall fell to the fire. On Tuesday night, it was, says a contemporary writer, the Rev. Thomas Vincent, in a little volume published a year afterwards, "a fearfull spectacle, which stood the whole body of it together in view, for several hours together, after the fire had taken it, without flames (I suppose because the timber was such solid oake), in a bright shining coale as if it had been a Pallace of gold, or a great building of burnished brass." The fire had now become several miles in circumference. It had reached the Temple at the western end of Fleet Street by the river, and was blazing up by Fetter Lane to Holborn; then backward, its course lay along Snow Hill, Newgate Street--Newgate Prison being consumed--and so past the Guildhall and Coleman Street, on to Bishopsgate Street and Leadenhall Street. It seemed as though all London would be burnt, and that it would spread westward even to Whitehall and Westminster Abbey. But now the King (Charles II.) and his brother the Duke of York and their courtiers were fully aroused; and it must have become clear to even the meanest intelligence that houses must be blown down on an extensive scale, in order to create large gaps over which the fire could not pass. All through Tuesday night, therefore, the sound of explosions mingled with the roaring of the fire. By the assistance of soldiers, and by the influence of the royal personages, buildings were blown up by gunpowder in the neighbourhood of Temple Bar, which then, of course, spanned the western end of Fleet Street; at Pye Corner near the entrance to Smithfield, and also at other points of vantage. These bold means, together, no doubt, with the falling of the wind, and also the presence of some strong brick buildings, as by the Temple, checked and stopped the fire. Some began now to bestir themselves, "who hitherto," remarks Evelyn, "had stood as men intoxicated with their hands across." On the Wednesday, therefore, the fire extended no farther west than the Temple, and no farther north than Pye Corner near Smithfield; but within this area it still burned, and the heat was still so great that no one would venture near it. During the Wednesday, the King was most energetic. He journeyed round the fire twice, and kept workers at their posts, and assisted in providing food and shelter for the people. Orders were sent into the country for provisions and tents, and also for boards wherewith to build temporary dwellings. On Thursday the Great Fire was everywhere extinguished; but on Friday the ruins were still smouldering and smoking, and the ground so hot that a pedestrian could not stand still for long on one spot. From St. Paul's Churchyard, where the ground rises to about the greatest height in the old city, the eye would range over a terrible picture of widespread destruction, from the Temple to the Tower and from the Thames to Smithfield. Two hundred thousand homeless persons were camping out, or lying beside such household goods as they had been able to save, in the fields by Islington and Highgate. It has been computed that no fewer than 13,200 houses, 89 churches, including St. Paul's, 400 streets, and several public buildings, together with four stone bridges and three of the city gates, etc., were destroyed, while the fire swept over an area of 436 acres. Now, in connection with this great calamity, we cannot find any appliance at work corresponding to our modern fire-engine. The inhabitants of London seem to have been almost, if not quite, as badly provided against fire as Rome in the days of Nero. In fact, the chief protection in early days in England seems to have been a practice of the old proverb that prevention is better than cure, care being exercised to regulate the fires used for domestic purposes: we see an instance in the arrangement of the curfew-bell, or _couvre-feu_, a bell to extinguish all fires at eight at night. Still, when conflagrations did occur, we may suppose that buckets and hand-squirts, as soon as mankind came to construct them, were the appliances used. Entries for fire-extinguishing machines of some sort have been found in the accounts of many German towns: for instance, in the building accounts of Augsburg for 1518, "instruments of fire" or "water-syringes" are mentioned. Fires appear to have been very frequent in Germany in the latter part of the fifteenth and in the sixteenth century. And though we do not know much of the contrivances used in Europe in the Middle Ages, it is not until 1657 that we have any reliable record of a machine at all resembling Hero's siphon on the one hand, or the modern fire-engine on the other. This record is given by Caspar Schott, a Jesuit, and tells of an engine constructed by Hautsch of Nuremberg, a city long famous for mechanical contrivances. The machine was really a large water-cistern drawn on a wheeled car, or sledge; and the secret of its propulsive power, Schott supposes was a horizontal cylinder containing a piston and producing an action like a pump. The cistern measured 8 feet long by 4 feet high, and 2 feet wide; its small width being probably designed for entering narrow streets. It was operated by twenty-eight men, and it forced a stream of water an inch thick to a height of about eighty feet. Hautsch desired to keep the methods of its construction secret; but, apparently, it was not furnished with the important air-chamber, and does not seem to have differed very materially from Hero's siphon. Schott also says he had seen one forty years before at Königshofen. Notwithstanding, therefore, the danger of great conflagrations, mankind does not seem to have made much progress in the construction of fire-engines from the days of Ctesibius until the time of Charles II., a period of about eighteen hundred years. On the other hand, we must remember that syringes and water-buckets can be of very great service when promptly and efficiently used. Even to-day London firemen find similar appliances of great value for small conflagrations in rooms. But we get a vivid little picture of the helplessness of even the seventeenth-century public before a fire of any size, in a description left by Wallington of a fire on Old London Bridge in 1633. Houses were then built on the bridge, and Wallington says: "All the conduits near were opened, and the pipes that carried the water through the streets were cut open, and the water swept down with brooms with help enough; but it was the will of God it should not prevail. For the three engines which are such excellent things that nothing that ever was devised could do so much good, yet none of them did prosper, for they were all broken, and the tide was very low that they could get no water, and the pipes that were cut yielded but littel. Some ladders were broke to the hurt of many; for several had their legges broke, some their arms; and some their ribes, and many lost their lives." More than fifty houses, we may add, were destroyed by this fire. Of what character were the engines to which he refers we cannot tell. We do not know whether any engine like Hautsch's was established in London at this time, or at the date of the Great Fire; but if so, it was not apparently much in vogue. It must be remembered that the term "engine" was applied indiscriminately to any sort of mechanical contrivance, and even to a skilful plan or method (Shakespeare uses the word to designate an instrument of torture); if, therefore, the word is used for a fire-extinguishing appliance by any old writer, it does not follow that the so-called engine would resemble Hautsch's machine or a modern fire-engine. [Illustration: FIRE-EXTINGUISHING APPLIANCES, SQUIRTS, BUCKETS, ETC., A.D. 1667.] Judging from some Instructions of the Corporation after the fire, hand-squirts and ladders and buckets were still chiefly relied upon in 1668. The Instructions are, moreover, interesting, as showing what action the Corporation took after the Great Fire. The city was divided into four districts, each of which was to be furnished with eight hundred leathern buckets, fifty ladders varying in sizes from 16 to 42 feet long, also "so many hand-squirts of brass as will furnish two for every parish, four-and-twenty pickaxe-sledges, and forty shod shovels." Further, each of the twelve companies was to provide thirty buckets, one engine, six pickaxe-sledges, three ladders, and two hand-squirts of brass. Again, "all the other inferior companies" were to provide similar appliances; and aldermen were likewise to provide buckets and hand-squirts of brass. The pickaxes and shovels were for use in demolishing houses and walls if necessary, or dealing with ruins; and though some kind of engine is mentioned, we know not whether it was a hand-squirt mounted in a cistern, or some sort of portable pump. We may regard these regulations, however, as fixing for us the hand-squirt and the bucket as the principal means of fire extinguishment in Britain up to that date. But now a great development was at hand, and a new chapter was to commence in the story. CHAPTER IV. THE PEARL-BUTTON MAKER'S CONTRIVANCE. THE MODERN FIRE-ENGINE. How to force a continuous stream of water on the fire! That was the problem which puzzled an unknown inventor about the year 1675. He probably saw that hitherto the appliances for extinguishing conflagrations failed at this point, and we may suppose that he cudgelled his brains to hit upon the right remedy. Then one day, no one seems to know when, he thought of inventing, or adapting, the compressed air-chamber to a sort of portable pump, and, behold!-- The Modern Fire-Engine was born! The invention was introduced, probably, after the Great Fire, because authorities describe it as first mentioned in the French _Journal des Savans_ in 1675, and Perrault states that an engine with an air-chamber was kept at Paris for the protection of the Royal Library in 1684. If, therefore, Hero knew of the air-chamber, as some assert, it does not appear to have been much used. But probably the great disaster in London stirred invention, and the addition of the air-chamber was the result. It may not, however, have been a distinct invention, for an air-chamber had been found of great value in various hydraulic machines. What, then, is this invention, and what is its great value to a fire-engine? Briefly, it enables a steady and continuous stream of water to be thrown on a fire. It is the vital principle of the modern fire-engine, and renders it distinctly different from all squirts, syringes, and portable pumps preceding it. Instead of an unequal and intermittent supply, sometimes, no doubt, falling far short of the fire, we have now a persistent stream, which can be continuously directed to any point, in reach, with precision and efficiency. How, then, are these results obtained? How does the air-chamber work? It depends on the elasticity and power of compressed air. The water, when drawn from the source of supply by two pistons, working alternately, is driven into a strong chamber filled with air. The air becomes compressed, and is driven to one part of the chamber; but when it is forced back to occupy about one-third of the whole space, the air is so compressed that, like the proverbial worm which will turn at last, it exerts a pressure on the water which had been driving it back. If the water had no means of escape, the chamber would soon burst; but the water finds its way through the delivery-hose. If the hose issue from the top of the chamber, it is fitted with a connecting pipe reaching nearly to the bottom to prevent any escape of air. Now, as long as the pumps force the water into the air-chamber to the necessary level--that is, to about two-thirds of the space--the pressure is practically continuous, and thus a constant jet of water is maintained through the hose. The ordinary pressure of air is about 14·7 pounds per square inch; and when compressed to one-half its usual bulk, its elasticity or power of pressure is doubled, and of course is rendered greater if still further compressed. This power, then, of the compressibility and elasticity of air is the secret of the fire-engine air-chamber; but though introduced about 1675, it was not until 1720 that such engines seem to have become more general. About that date, Leupold built engines in Germany with a strongly-soldered copper chest, and one piston and cylinder, the machine throwing a continuous and steady jet of water some twenty or thirty feet high. In the meantime, what was being done in England? Here again the story is obscure; but we imagine the course of events to have been something like this: In the dismal days after the Great Fire, people began to cast about for means to prevent a recurrence of so widespread and terrible a calamity. Fire-insurance offices were organized, and they undertook the extinguishment of fires. It is not unreasonable to suppose that in some form--perhaps by offering prizes, perhaps by simply calling attention to the need for improvement, perhaps by disseminating information such as of the engine mentioned by Perrault at Paris--these offices stimulated invention; perhaps the memory of the Great Fire was enough to stir ingenious effort without their aid. Now, there was a pearl-button maker named Newsham, at Cloth Fair, not far distant from Pye Corner, who obtained patents for improvements in fire-engines in 1721, and again in 1725; while the _Daily Journal_ of April 7th, 1726, gives a report of one of his engines which discharged water as high as the grasshopper on the Royal Exchange. This apparently was not only due to the great compression of air in the air-chamber, but also to the peculiar shape he gave to the nozzle of the jet; and it is said he was able to throw water to a height of a hundred and thirty feet or more. In France a man named Perier seems to have been busy with fire-engines, though how far he worked independently of others we cannot tell. The hose and suction-pipe are said to have been invented by two men named Van der Hide, inspectors of fire-extinguishing machines at Amsterdam about 1670. The hose was of leather, and enabled the water to be discharged close to the fire. It is worthy of note that this invention also appears to have been after the Great Fire of London. Remembering, therefore, that Newsham was probably indebted to others for the important air-chamber and flexible leathern hose--though how far he was indebted we cannot say--we must regard him as the Father of the Modern Fire-Engine in England. Especially so, as his improvements have been regarded as in advance of all others in their variety and value. It is also worthy of note that the first fire-engines in the United States were of his construction. Little is known of Newsham's life. The reasons leading him, a maker of pearl buttons, to turn his attention to fire-engine improvement are not clear. At his death in 1743, the undertaking passed by bequest to his son. The son died about a year after his father, and the business then came into the hands of his wife and cousin George Ragg, also by bequest; and the name of the firm became Newsham & Ragg. One of Newsham's engines may be seen in the South Kensington Museum to-day, having been presented to that institution by the corporation of Dartmouth. The pump-barrels will be found to measure 4½ inches in diameter, with a piston-stroke of 8½ inches. The original instructions are still attached, and are protected by a piece of horn. The general construction of Newsham's engines appears to have been something like this: The body, which was long and narrow, measured about 9 feet by 3 feet broad; this shape enabled it to be wheeled in narrow streets, and even through doorways. Along the lower part of the body, which was swung on wheels, ran a pipe of metal, which the water entered from a feed-pipe. The feed-pipe was intended to be connected with a source of supply; but if this failed, a cistern, attached to the body of the engine, could be filled by buckets, while a strainer was placed at the junction between the cistern and the interior pipe to prevent dirt or gravel from entering it. [Illustration: EARLY MANUAL FIRE-ENGINE.] On the top of the body was built a superstructure, which looked like a high box--greater in height than in breadth, and larger at the top than at the bottom. This box contained the all-important air-chamber and the pumps. The water in the interior pipe was forced into the air-chamber by the two pumps, and then thrown on the fire through a pipe connected with a hose of leather projecting from the top of the air-chamber. This pipe descended within the chamber almost to the bottom, so that when water was pumped into the air-chamber it flowed round the bottom of the pipe, and prevented any ingress or egress of air. As the water rose, the air already in the chamber became compressed in the top part of the chamber, and in turn exerted its power on the water. The pumps were worked by levers, one on each side of the engine, and alternately raised and lowered by the men operating the machine; while this manual-power was much increased by one or two men working treadles connected with the levers, and throwing the weight of the body on each treadle alternately. The principle of the force-pump may be thus briefly explained: When a tight-fitting piston working in a cylinder is drawn upward, the air in the cylinder is drawn up also, and a partial vacuum created; if the cylinder is connected with water not too far distant by a pipe, the water will then rush upward to fill the vacuum. Then, if the bottom of the cylinder be fitted with a valve opening upward only, it is closed when the piston is pushed down again; and the water would burst the cylinder, if enough power were applied to the piston, but escape is afforded along another pipe as an outlet, which in the case of the fire-engine opens into the air-chamber, and which is opened and closed by another valve. Thus is the water not only raised from the source of supply, but is forced along another channel. And the modern fire-engine--which we date from Newsham's engines in England about 1726--is a combination of the principles of the force-pump and of the air-chamber, which acts by reason of the great elasticity of compressed air. Other inventors made improvements as well as Newsham, namely, Dickenson, Bramah, Furst, Rowntree, and others, though the differences were chiefly in details. An engraving mentioned in an old work of reference sets forth that a London merchant named John Lofting was the patentee and inventor of the fire-engine. His invention must have been since the Great Fire, because the Monument is depicted in one corner of the engraving and the Royal Exchange in another. Rowntree made an engine for the Sun and some other fire-offices, which protected the feed-pipe more efficiently from mud and gravel; and Bramah devised a hemispherical perforated nozzle, which distributed water in all directions, so that the ceilings, sides, and floor of a room would become equally drenched. Bramah also applied the rotary principle to the fire-engine. He studied the principles of hydraulics, and introduced many improvements into machinery for pumping, a rotary principle being one of them. He attained this object by changing the form of the cylinder and piston, the part acting directly on the water being shaped as a "slider," and working round a cavity in form of a cylinder, and maintained in its place by a groove. He applied the rotative principle to many objects, one being the fire-engine. His fire-engine was patented in 1793; but we cannot discover that it changed any vital principle of the machine, which, as we have seen, consists in essence of a movable force-pump, steadied and strengthened by a compressed air-chamber and a flexible delivery-hose. Joseph Bramah, however, is doubtless best known to fame as the inventor of the hydraulic press, though he is also celebrated for the safety-lock which bears his name. He was a farmer's son, and was born at Stainborough in Yorkshire in 1748; but an accident rendering him lame, he was apprenticed to a carpenter. Engaging in business as a cabinet-maker in London, he was employed one day to fit up some sanitary appliances, and their imperfections led him to devise improvements. He took out his first patent in 1778 and this contrivance proved to be the first of a long series. His lock followed, and then, assisted in one detail by Henry Maudslay, he introduced his hydraulic press, a machine which he foresaw was capable of immense development. Several of his improvements are concerned with water, such as contrivances connected with pumps and fire-engines, and with building boilers for steam-engines. It is also said he was one of the first proposers of the screw-propeller for steamships. Altogether, he was the author of eighteen patents; though it has been pointed out that he improved and applied the inventions of others, rather than originated the whole thing himself. While he contributed improvements to the fire-engine, the vital principle of the air-chamber and the flexible hose remained the same. Up to about the year 1832, the larger engines generally in use in London seem to have thrown some eighty-eight gallons a minute from fifty to seventy feet high. The next notable development was the application of steam to work the force-pumps. But this addition, which was made about 1830 by John Braithwaite, also did not alter the principle of the air-chamber. John Braithwaite came of an engineering family. He was born in 1797, the third son of John Braithwaite, the constructor of one of the first diving-bells. The ancestors of the Braithwaites had conducted an engineer's business, or something analogous to it, at St. Albans ever since the year 1695. The younger John entered his father's business, and from 1823, after his father and brother died, conducted it alone. Those were the days when steam was coming into vogue, and he began to manufacture high-pressure steam-engines. Together with Ericsson, he constructed the "Novelty," the locomotive which competed in the famous railway-engine contest at Rainhill in 1829, when Stephenson's "Rocket" won the prize. Braithwaite's engine, though it did not fulfil all the conditions of the competition, yet is said by some to have been the first locomotive to run a mile a minute--or rather more, for it is held to have covered a mile in fifty-six seconds. He used a bellows to fan the fire; and in his steam fire-engine, he also employed bellows, though on one day of the Rainhill contest the failure of the bellows rendered the locomotive incapable of doing work. In the fire-engine, the bellows were worked by the wheels of the machine, and eighteen or twenty minutes were required to raise the steam. At the present time, a hundred pounds of steam can be raised in five minutes in the biggest engine of the London Brigade, this result being due, in one respect at least, to the use of water-tube boilers. Braithwaite's engine of 1830 was fitted with an upright boiler, and was of scarcely six horse-power; but, nevertheless, it forced about fifteen gallons of water per minute from eighty to ninety feet high. The pistons for the steam and water respectively were on opposite ends of the same rod, that for steam being 7 inches in diameter, and for the water 6½ inches, and both having a stroke of 16 inches. The engine was successful in its day. During an hour's work, it would throw between thirty and forty tons of water on a fire; while another engine, also made by Braithwaite, threw the larger quantity of ninety tons an hour. The steam fire-engine was first used at the burning of the Argyle Rooms in London in 1830; it was also used at the fire of the English Opera-House in the same year, and at the great fire at the Houses of Parliament in 1834. But, curiously enough, a great prejudice existed against it, and the engine was at length destroyed by a London mob. The fire-brigade were also against it. So Braithwaite gave it up; but he built a few others, one at least being for Berlin, where it seems to have given great satisfaction. Braithwaite, who became engineer-in-chief to the Eastern Counties Railway, also applied steam to a floating fire-engine, and constructed the machinery so that the power could be rapidly changed from propelling the vessel to operating the pumps. The brigade could not long disregard the use of steam. In 1852, their manual-float was altered to a steamer, the alterations being made by Messrs. Shand & Mason. Six years later, the firm made a land steam fire-engine, which, however, was sent to St. Petersburg; and then in 1860--thirty years after Braithwaite had introduced the machine--the London Brigade hired one for a year. The experiment was successful, and a steam fire-engine was purchased from the same makers. But only two steam fire-engines were at work at the great Tooley Street fire. Then, in July, 1863, a steam fire-engine competition took place at the Crystal Palace, the trials lasting three days. Lord Sutherland was chairman, and Captain Shaw, who was then chief of the London Brigade, was honorary secretary of the competition committee. In the result, Merryweather & Son won the first prize in the large-class engine, and Shand & Mason the second prize. Shand & Mason also took the first prize in the small class, and Lee & Co. the second prize in the small class. The value of the steam fire-engine was fully established. At the present time, Messrs. Shand & Mason have an engine capable of throwing a thousand gallons a minute; while one of the water-floats of the London Brigade will throw thirteen hundred and fifty gallons a minute. These powerful machines form a striking development of Newsham's engine of 1726, and afford a remarkable contrast to the old fire-quenching appliances of former times. But while the development of the modern fire-engine had been proceeding, a not less remarkable organization of firemen had been growing. It arose in a very singular, and yet under the circumstances a not unnatural, manner. And to this part of the story we must now turn our attention. CHAPTER V. EXTINGUISHMENT BY COMPANY. THE BEGINNINGS OF FIRE INSURANCE. "Cannot provision be made against loss by fire?" Looking at the terrible ruin caused in 1666, prudent men would naturally begin to ask this question. And some enterprising individual declared that a scheme must be launched whereby such provision might be made. So, although proposals and probably attempts for fire insurance had been made before, by individuals or clubs, and by Anglo-Saxon guilds; yet we read that "a combination of persons"--which, in the words of to-day, we suppose means a company--opened "the first regular office for insuring against loss by fire" in 1681. Of course, another speedily followed. That is our English way. But both of these have disappeared. One, however,--the appropriately named Hand-in-Hand, which was opened in 1696,--still survives, and added life-insurance business in 1836. The Sun was projected in 1708 and started in 1710, the Union followed four years later, the Westminster in 1717, the London in 1720, and the Royal Exchange in the same year. [Illustration: LONDON FIREMAN IN 1696.] Therefore, the close of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth centuries saw the practice of fire insurance well established in Britain as an organized system. Now, these offices not only undertook to repay the insurers for losses, but also to extinguish the fires themselves. This latter, indeed, was fully regarded as an integral part of their business. Thus, one of the prospectuses of an early fire-office states that "watermen and other labourers are to be employed, at the charge of the undertakers, to assist at the quenching of fires." And it is worthy of note that, while the earliest men employed were watermen, the London Fire-Brigade to-day will only accept able-bodied sailors as their recruits. [Illustration: FIRE-INSURANCE BADGES.] The offices dressed their men in livery, and gave them badges; the men dwelt in different parts of the city, and were expected to be ready when any fires occurred. Even to-day the interest of the companies in the extinguishment of fires is recognized, and their early connection therewith maintained; for they pay the London County Council £30,000 annually toward the support of the brigade. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the fire-offices had notably increased in numbers. Thus, in 1810 there were sixteen, and some of their names will be recognized to-day. In addition to the Hand-in-Hand and the Sun, were the Phoenix (1782), the Royal Exchange, the North British (1809), the Imperial (1803), and the Atlas, dating from 1808; there was also the Caledonian, dating from 1805. Each company fixed its badge to the building insured, a course which appears to have been suggested by the Sun, and adopted so that the firemen of the different companies might know to which office the burning house belonged. The badge was stamped in sheet-lead, and was painted and gilded; but the badges for the firemen appear usually to have been of brass, and were fixed to the left arm. Each company not only kept its own engines and its staff of firemen, but also clad its men in distinctive uniforms. The dress for the Sun Office consisted of coat, waistcoat, and breeches of dark-blue cloth, adorned with shining brass buttons. The brass badge represented the usual conventional face of the sun, with the rays of light around, and the name placed above. The helmet was of horse-hide, with cross-bars of metal. It was made of leather inside, but stuffed and quilted with wool. This quilting would, it was hoped, protect the head from falling stones or timbers, dangers which are still the greatest perils threatening firemen at their work. By-and-by, Parliament made some effort towards organizing fire extinction. In 1774, a law was passed, providing that the parish overseers and churchwardens should maintain an engine to extinguish fires within their own boundaries. These engines were doubtless manned in many parishes, especially in rural districts, by voluntary workers, who sometimes were probably not even enrolled in an organized voluntary brigade; the police also in certain places undertook fire duty. But "what is every one's business is no one's business," and for various reasons numbers of these parish fire-engines fell into disuse. In short, the organization for the extinguishment of fires was thoroughly unsatisfactory. The men belonging to the different companies were too often rivals, when they should have been co-workers; each naturally gave special attention to the houses bearing their badges. We obtain a remarkable picture of the inefficiency prevailing in a letter from an eye-witness, Sir Patrick Walker, in No. 9 of the _Scots Magazine_ in 1814. It refers to Edinburgh, but doubtless is true of other places. [Illustration: ROYAL EXCHANGE FIREMAN. (_From a portrait._)] Sir Patrick had taken an active part in endeavouring to arrest a conflagration, and he remarks on "a total absence of combined and connected aid, which must often render abortive all exertions." The chief defect, he declares, lies "in having company engines, which creates a degree of jealousy among the men who work them." When all success depended on their united efforts, then they were most discordant. There were often more engines than water to adequately supply them, consequently no engine had probably enough to be efficient. The remedy, he held, was to abolish all names or marks, and form the whole into one body on military principles. Curiously enough, the brigade that was formed in London has come to be regulated rather on naval than on military principles; but the essence of Sir Patrick's suggestion was undoubtedly sound. He also complained greatly of the waste of water by hand-carrying, which, moreover, created great confusion. These grave defects were, no doubt, also felt keenly by the London fire-offices, and in 1825 some of them combined to form one brigade. They were the Sun, the Phoenix, the Royal Exchange, the Union, and the Atlas; and seven years later, in the memorable year 1832, all the more important companies united. In this action they were led by Mr. R. Bell Ford, director of the Sun Fire-Office. The organization then formed was called the London Fire-Engine Establishment, and had nineteen stations and eighty men. It was placed under the superintendence of Mr. James Braidwood, a name never to be forgotten in the story of fire-brigades and their work. But to learn something of this great man and his daring deeds and noble career, we must change the scene to Edinburgh. CHAPTER VI. THE STORY OF JAMES BRAIDWOOD. "Something must be done!" Many an Edinburgh citizen must have expressed this decision in the memorable year 1824. Several destructive fires had occurred, and at each catastrophe the need of efficient organization was terribly apparent. It seemed as though the whole city would be burned. Then the police took action. The commissioners of the Edinburgh police appointed a committee, and a Fire-Engine Corps, as it was called, was established, on October 1st of the same year. The new organization was to be supported by contributions from various companies, from the city of Edinburgh, and from the police funds. "But who was to superintend it?" Now, a gentleman had become known to the commissioners, perhaps through being already a superintendent of fire-engines; and though only twenty-four years of age, he was appointed. His name was James Braidwood. He was born in 1800 in Edinburgh, and was the son of a builder. Receiving his education at the High School, he afterwards followed his father's business. But in 1823, he was appointed superintendent of the fire-engines, perhaps owing to his knowledge of building and carpentry; and when the corps was established, he was offered the command. He proceeded to form his brigade of picked men. He selected slaters, house-carpenters, plumbers, smiths, and masons. Slaters, he said afterwards, become good firemen; not only from their cleverness in climbing and working on roofs--though he admitted these to be great advantages--but because he found them generally more handy and ready than other classes of workmen. They were allowed to follow their ordinary occupations daily; but they were regularly trained and exercised every week, the time chosen being early in the morning. Method was imparted to their work. Instead of being permitted to throw the water wastefully on walls or windows where it might not reach the fire at once, they were taught to seek it out, and to direct the hose immediately upon it at its source. This beneficial substitution of unity, method, skill, and intelligent control for scattered efforts, random attempts, lack of organization, and discord in the face of the enemy, was soon manifest. Five years after the corps had been established under Mr. Braidwood, the _Edinburgh Mercury_ wrote: "The whole system of operations has been changed. The public, however, do not see the same bustle, or hear the same noise, as formerly; and hence they seem erroneously to conclude that there is nothing done. The fact is, the spectator sees the preparation for action made, but he sees no more. Where the strength of the men and the supply of water used to be wasted, by being thrown against windows, walls, and roofs, the firemen now seek out the spot where the danger lies, and, creeping on hands and feet into the chamber full of flame or smoke, often at the hazard of suffocation, discover the exact seat of danger, and, by bringing the water in contact with it, obtain immediate mastery over the powerful element with which they have to contend. In this daring and dangerous work, men have occasionally fainted from heat, or dropped down from want of respiration; in which case, the next person at hand is always ready to assist his companion, and to release him from his service of danger." Not only exercising great powers of skilful management, Braidwood showed remarkable determination and presence of mind in the face of danger. Hearing on one occasion that some gunpowder was stored in an ironmonger's shop, which was all aflame, he plunged in, and, at imminent risk of his life, carried out first one cask from the cellar, and then, re-entering, brought out another, thus preventing a terrible explosion. In 1830, Mr. Braidwood issued a pamphlet dealing with the construction of fire-engines, the training of firemen, and the method of proceeding in cases of fire. In this work he declared he had not been able to find any work on fire-engines in the English language--a state of things which testifies to the lack of public interest or lack of information in the matter in those days. The book is technical, but useful to the expert before the era of steam fire-engines. But in a volume, issued a few years after his death, Mr. Braidwood takes a comprehensive glance at the condition of fire extinguishment in different places. The date is not given; but it was probably about 1840. In substance he says: "On the Continent generally, the whole is managed by Government, and the firemen are placed under martial law, the inhabitants being compelled to work the engines. In London, the principal means ... is a voluntary association of the Insurance Companies without legal authority; the legal protection by parish engines being, with a few praiseworthy exceptions, a dead letter. In Liverpool, Manchester, and other towns, the extinction of fires by the pressure of water only, without the use of engines, is very much practised. In America, the firemen are generally volunteers enrolled by the local governments, and entitled to privileges." From this bird's-eye view, it will be seen that organization for fire extinction and the use of efficient appliances for fighting the flames were still in a very unsatisfactory state; yet the increasing employment of lucifer-matches and of gas in the earlier years of the nineteenth century tended to increase conflagrations. Moreover, it is curious that the public seemed but little aroused to this unsatisfactory condition of affairs. Perhaps they saw their way to nothing better; perhaps, if they took precautions, they regarded a fire as unlikely to occur in their own house, even if it might happen to their neighbour. Whatever the cause, they seem to have been but little stirred on the subject. It was probably Mr. Braidwood's pamphlet of 1830 that led to his appointment as chief of the newly-formed London Fire-Engine Establishment. The publication showed him to be an authority on the subject, and one likely to succeed in the post. He came with the cordial good wishes of his Edinburgh friends. The firemen presented him with a gold watch, and the committee with a piece of plate. He was ever careful of his men. He watched their movements, when they were likely to be placed in positions of peril; and he would not allow any man to risk unnecessary danger. Yet he was himself as daring as he was skilful, and never shrank from encountering personal risk. This was the sort of man who came to lead the London Fire-Engine Establishment. He found it a small force, composed of groups of men accustomed formerly to act in rivalry, and having between thirty and forty engines, throwing about ninety gallons a minute to a height of between seventy and eighty feet, and also several smaller hand-hauled engines, comparatively useless at a large fire. In addition to the establishment of the associated companies, there were about three hundred parish engines and many maintained at places of business by private firms. By his energy and skill, Mr. Braidwood kept the fires in check, and came to be regarded as a great authority on fire extinguishment and protection from fire. On these subjects, he was consulted in connection with the Royal Palaces and Government Offices, and held an appointment as a chief fire inspector of various palaces and public buildings. He became an Associate of the Institute of Civil Engineers, and read several papers before that body, and also before the Society of Arts, on the subject of the extinction and prevention of fires. The force under his command was increased from eighty to a hundred and twenty men; but it still remained the Establishment of the Fire-Offices. Throughout the country, the extinguishment of fire continued largely in the hands of voluntary workers, assisted by various authorities, even the fire-brigades being sometimes supplemented by the police and the water companies, as well as the general public. And then an event occurred, which not only thrilled London with horror, but probably led to one of the most remarkable developments in the efforts for fire extinction that England had known. CHAPTER VII. THE THAMES ON FIRE. THE DEATH OF BRAIDWOOD. About half-past four o'clock in the afternoon of June 22nd, 1861, an alarm of fire reached the Watling Street station. The firemen turned out to the call; but little did they think, as they hurried along, that the fire to which they were summoned would burn for a whole month, and would become known as one of the most serious in the history of London. The call came from Tooley Street, on the south side of London Bridge. Some jute in the upper part of a warehouse had been discovered smouldering, and bucketsful of water had been thrown upon it; but the smoke became so thick and overwhelming, that the men were compelled to desist, and the flames grew rapidly. By this time the alarm had been sent to Watling Street. Quickly the fire-engines arrived on the spot, and the men found dense masses of smoke pouring from buildings at Cotton's Wharf. A number of tall warehouses, rising up to six stories high, and filled with inflammable goods, stood here and near by, among the goods being oil, tallow, tar, cotton, saltpetre, bales of silk, and chests of tea. In spite of all efforts, the fire burned steadily on, and dense volumes of smoke poured forth. Mr. Braidwood had speedily arrived, and two large floating-engines, in addition to others, were got to work. He stationed his men wisely, and huge jets of water were speedily playing on the fire. Great excitement soon rose in the neighbourhood. Surging crowds of eager people thronged the streets approaching the wharf, and a dense assemblage pressed together on London Bridge. Even the thoroughfares on the opposite side were blocked. But the spectators could see little just then, except thick clouds of smoke and great jets of water. On the river, vessels struggled to escape from the proximity of the burning building; while on land, the police forced back the people from the surrounding streets, so as to give greater freedom to the firemen. [Illustration: JAMES BRAIDWOOD.] Then, about an hour after the alarm had been given, a loud explosion startled the people; a bright tongue of flame shot upward through the smoke, and seemed to strike downward also to the ground, while the whole building became a sheet of fire. The neighbouring buildings became involved; rivers of fire burst out of windows, ran down walls, and actually flowed along the streets. It even poured on to the waters of the Thames itself. Melted tallow and oil flowed along as they burned, like liquid fire. No wonder the conflagration spread rapidly. Less than two hours after the call had been received--that is, at about six o'clock--the fire had extended to eight large warehouses. The heat now became overpowering. Drifting clouds of smoke obscured the calm evening sky, and spread like a pall overhead. In spite of all efforts, the fierce conflagration gained continually on the men; it leaped over a space between the buildings, and attacked a block of warehouses on the opposite side. The roaring of the flames, the thick smoke, and the curious, disagreeable smells arising from the various goods which were burning, became almost unbearable. The men suffered greatly from exhaustion; and Mr. Braidwood, seeing their distress, procured refreshments. He was dividing them among the men as he stood near the second building which had caught fire, when again a loud explosion rent the air, and the wall of the warehouse was seen to be falling. "Run for your lives!" was the cry; and the men, seized for once with panic, rushed away. Mr. Braidwood and a gentleman with him followed; but unhappily they were not in time, and with a loud crash the huge wall fell upon them, and crushed them to the ground with tons of heavy masonry. "Let us save them!" cried the men; and a score hurried to the spot. But again a third explosion occurred, a mass of burning material was hurled on the fatal heap, all around fell the fire, and rescue was seen to be hopeless. [Illustration: THE TOOLEY STREET FIRE, 1861.] As if in triumph, the flames swept on and mounted higher. Wharf after wharf was involved, and warehouse after warehouse. The Depôt Wharf, Chamberlain's Wharf, and others caught fire. Night seemed turned into day by the blaze. Ships near the wharves, laden with the same inflammable materials of oil, and tar, and tallow, became ignited; and the blazing liquids poured out on the river, forming a lake of fire a quarter-mile long by a hundred yards wide. People crowded everywhere to see the sight. They thronged house-tops and church-steeples. Boatmen ventured near to pick up such goods as they might be able to find, and were threatened with dire peril. Some fainted from the heat. A barge drifted near with three men aboard, who were so overcome that they could not manage their cumbersome craft; a skiff approached sufficiently near to rescue the men, after which the barge drifted nearer still, and was burnt. Though greatly dispirited by the loss of their captain, the firemen fought doggedly on. But still their efforts seemed unavailing. Flakes of fire fell in all directions, and huge volumes of flame flashed upward to the sky. The whole of Bermondsey seemed in peril, and at one period the fire blazed for close upon a quarter-mile along the river-bank. Through the night more engines clattered up from distant stations, and the firemen fought the flames at every step of their destructive career. Tons of water were poured upon each building as it became threatened, only, however, to yield in course of time. The wind saved the old church of St. Olave's, and also London Bridge Station; but the fire raged along the wharves. Sometimes great warehouse walls fell into the river with a gigantic splash, revealing the inferno of white-hot fire raging behind them. At length the fire reached Hay's Wharf, which was supposed to be fireproof, and for long it justified the name. But at last it also yielded; the upper part began to blaze, and, in spite of the quantities of water thrown upon the roof and walls, the fire gradually increased. Now beyond the building lay a dock, in which were berthed two ships. The tide had been too low to allow of their removal. If they could not be towed out in time, the fire would probably seize them, and thus be wafted over the dock to the other side. Would the tide rise in time to allow the ships to be hauled out? It was a critical moment, and the firemen must have worked their hardest to keep the building from flaming too quickly. Gradually the tide flowed higher and higher. No matter what happens in the mighty city, twice in the day and night does the Thames silently ebb and flow; and now the quiet flowing of the tide helped to save the great city on its bank. Just in time two tugs were able to enter the dock. The towing-ropes were thrown aboard; but even as the vessels were passing out, the flames, as if determined not to lose their prey, darted from the building, and set the rigging of one ship aflame. But the firemen were as quick as their enemy. An engine threw a torrent of water on the burning ship, and promptly quenched the flames. And so, amid the plaudits of the huge crowds on both sides of the river, the two ships were slowly towed to a place of safety, and the fierce fire was left face to face with the empty dock. The quiet dock was successful. The wide space filling up with water from the flowing tide stopped the progress of the fire. This stoppage must have occurred about five o'clock on the following morning; but within the area already covered by the conflagration, fire continued to burn for a month. Even after the first seven days, a fresh explosion and flash of flame showed the danger of the conflagration, now fortunately confined within limits. In fact, July 22nd had dawned before it was entirely extinguished, the total loss being estimated at about two millions sterling. Nearly all the goods destroyed were of the most inflammable description. There were nine thousand casks of tallow and three hundred tuns of olive oil, beside thousands of bales of cotton, two thousand parcels of bacon, and other valuable merchandise. The tallow, no doubt, burned the fiercest and the most persistently. Melting with the intense heat, it poured out into cellars and streets, where much of it speedily caught fire. The floors of nine vaults, each measuring 100 by 20 feet, were covered two feet deep with melted tallow and palm oil, and all helped to feed the fire. No wonder it burned for days, if such material fed the flames, although the firemen continued to pour water on the ruins. Some of the tallow, found floating on the river, was collected, and sold at twopence per pound. Mr. Braidwood's body was found on June 24th, so charred as to be scarcely recognizable. He was buried at Abney Park Cemetery, and was accorded the honour of a great public funeral. The London Rifle-Brigade attended, as well as large bodies of firemen and of the police, and an immense concourse of the general public. So large a multitude, it was said, had not attended any funeral since the obsequies of the Duke of Wellington. A proposition was made to raise a public fund for the benefit of Mr. Braidwood's widow and six children, and a large sum was subscribed; but it was announced that the Insurance Companies had amply provided for his family. The neighbourhood of Southwark, where the fatal fire occurred, has been the scene of many remarkable conflagrations. In the same year as the famous Tooley Street fire, Davis's Wharf at Horselydown was burnt, involving a loss of about £15,000; while at a large fire at Dockhead two or three years later, vast quantities of saltpetre, corn, jute, and flour were consumed. A brisk wind favoured the flames, and hundreds of tons of saltpetre flashed up into fire. Bright sparks and flame-coloured smoke floated over the conflagration, and were wafted by the wind, accompanied by deafening reports and great flashes of fire. Numbers of other conflagrations have occurred in this neighbourhood. The streets were narrow, and the district was full of warehouses, containing all kinds of merchandise, which burnt like tinder when fairly ignited. Imagine coffee and cloves, sulphur and saltpetre, oil, turpentine, and tallow all afire! What a commingling of odours and of strange-coloured flame! The bacon frizzles; the corn parches and chars; the flour mixes with the water, then dries and smoulders in the great heat, and smells like burning bread; the preserved tongues diffuse an offensive odour of burning flesh; while the commingling of cinnamon and salt, mustard and macaroni, jams and figs and liquorice, unite to make a hideous combination of coloured flames, sickening smells, and thick and lurid smoke. The huge warehouses built in this district since the closing years of the eighteenth century are filled with all kinds of goods from various parts of the world; but of all the disastrous fires which have ravaged the district, the great Tooley Street fire of 1861 has been the worst. Moreover, it will always be memorable for the death of Braidwood. Even now you may hear men in the London Fire-Brigade speak of Braidwood or Braidwood's time, and his memory has become a noble tradition in the service. So great an authority had he become on the subject of fire extinction, and so highly was he held in public esteem, that his terrible death in the performance of his duty was regarded as a national calamity. But the conflagration also revealed with startling clearness the inadequacy of the Companies' Fire Establishment. More appliances and more men were wanted. The companies were asked, "Will you increase your organization?" And their answer, put briefly, was, "No." Thereupon, in 1862, a Parliamentary Commission was instituted to enquire into the matter, and in due time the commission reported. It recommended that a brigade should be established; the companies consulted with the Home Secretary and the Metropolitan Board of Works; and in 1865 an Act was passed placing the brigade under the Metropolitan Board, the change to take place as, and from January 1st, 1866. This was practically the establishment of a Municipal Fire-Brigade, though it was also provided that every company insuring property for loss by fire in London should contribute to the cost of the brigade at the rate of £35 for every million pounds of the gross amounts insured, except by way of reassurance; the Government were also to pay £10,000 a year for the protection of public buildings; while the Metropolitan Board itself was empowered to levy a rate not exceeding a halfpenny in the pound in support of the organization. In 1863, the Fire-Engine Establishment had increased to a hundred and thirty men with twenty stations; but the Metropolitan Board were given power to construct further engines and stations, to act in conjunction with a salvage corps, to obtain the services of the men, and to divide the metropolis into suitable districts. Such powers would enable the Board greatly to strengthen the brigade. The Act also provided that the firemen should be placed under command of an officer, to be called the Chief Officer of the Metropolitan Fire-Brigade; and a gentleman was appointed who had had experience of similar duties at Belfast, and who was for long to be popularly known in London as Captain Shaw. And on the very day when the new arrangements came in force a great fire occurred, as if to roughly remind the organization of its responsibilities and test its powers. CHAPTER VIII. A PERILOUS SITUATION. CAPTAIN SHAW. IMPROVEMENTS OF THE METROPOLITAN BOARD AND OF THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL. "The dock is on fire!" On New Year's Day, 1866, some hours after St. Katherine's Dock had been opened for work, several persons came running to the gates from the adjoining streets, crying loudly, "The dock is on fire!" At first the policemen would not believe the report. "We can see nothing," said they. "But flames are bursting from the roof! Look! look!" And before long the policemen were convinced that a serious fire was, indeed, in progress. It was in the upper floors of a division of a block of warehouses named F, six stories high, and by eleven o'clock they were blazing fast. "Fire! Fire!" The alarming cry rang through the dock, and superintendents, dock managers, and policemen hurried to the spot; while gangs of dock labourers were taken off their work, and set to quench the fire with buckets. The conditions were somewhat similar to those of the great Tooley Street fire of five years or so before. The fire broke out on a floor where bales of jute and coir fibre were stored; and a huge heap of these goods was seen to be burning, and sending forth such a suffocating and blinding smoke, that the men were compelled to retreat. "Shut the iron doors!" shouted the officers; and one after another the iron doors between the different warehouses were closed, though with one exception. This was the door connecting the fifth floor of F Warehouse with the fifth floor of H Warehouse. It was open wide, and one man after another endeavoured to close it by crawling towards it on the floor. But the smoke was so suffocating that the men had to be dragged back almost unconscious before they could reach the door. Meantime, the dock fire-engines and hydrants had been got to work, and the dock engineer was able to turn on full pressure, so that soon powerful jets of water were thrown on the flames. A hydrant is, briefly, an elbow-shaped metal pipe, permanently fixed to a main water-pipe; and when the fireman attaches his hose to it, he can get at once a stream of water through the hose at about the same pressure as the water in the main. The flames were spreading furiously, and the two upper floors of F Warehouse were blazing fast, throwing out such dense clouds of smoke, that the neighbourhood was darkened as by a thick fog. The block of warehouses on fire towered up six stories high, and occupied half of the northern side of the dock next to East Smithfield. They formed a huge pile about 440 feet long by about 140 feet deep, the import part of the dock lying on the south side with its ships. The block was built in a number of divisions or bays, each measuring about 90 by 50 feet, and separated by strong walls, which rose from basement to roof. Happily, the communication between these divisions was afforded by double folding-doors of iron, a space of about three feet existing between the double doors; they were believed to be fireproof; and with the one exception they were closed. But, like the Tooley Street buildings, these warehouses were chiefly stored with very combustible materials. Tallow was here, which played such a bad part in 1861; spirits were here also, palm oil, tons of dyewood, flax, jute, and cotton. Labourers had been at work for some hours when the alarm was given, and men were busy on every floor. They were receiving the goods from the quays, and wheeling them along through the building, when the fire was discovered. And now Captain Shaw, the chief who succeeded Braidwood as the head of the fire-brigade, dashed up with a steamer from Watling Street, which was then the headquarters of the brigade. He had received the alarm at about twenty minutes to twelve o'clock, and had telegraphed to all subsidiary stations. Captain Shaw, who afterwards became Sir Eyre Massey Shaw, K.C.B., was born the same year as the steam fire-engine was first used--_viz._, in 1830. He was the son of Mr. B. R Shaw, of Monkstown, County Cork, and in due time entered the army. Retiring in 1860, he became chief of the Belfast Borough Forces, including police and fire-brigade, being appointed in the next year the chief of the London Fire-Brigade. [Illustration: THE FIRST COMPLETE FLOATING STEAM FIRE-ENGINE, 1855.] Not only did he telegraph for land steam fire-engines to the conflagration; but a large steam-float, usually kept off Southwark Bridge, was also quickly under way. Soon he had eight land steamers and from seventy to eighty men on the spot, while he himself directed in person. Mr. Collett, one of the Dock Company's secretaries, worked hard, and often at great peril; Mr. Graves and Mr. Stephens, also officials of the company, were busily engaged in directing removal of valuable materials; while about seventy men employed by Cubitt & Co. in rebuilding a warehouse, destroyed by fire in the previous October, rendered assistance. The little army found themselves face to face with a difficult task. The fire was now burning furiously, and the smoke was well-nigh overpowering. The flames had reached the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors, and seemed working downward; while the burning jute sent forth such dense volumes of smoke, that the men were forced back again and again. But bravely they returned to their task; and taking advantage of the moments when the clouds cleared, they directed the hose to the most needful points. For six hours the fire raged, until all the three upper floors were destroyed, and the third floor seriously damaged. The scene in the waning winter afternoon was sufficiently striking as the smoke gradually cleared and the blackened ruins became dimly visible. They were very dangerous, for the walls appeared likely to topple over at the slightest provocation. About five o'clock, the firemen seemed to have gained the mastery, and Captain Shaw returned home; but later in the evening he was summoned again. Most mysteriously the flames had burst forth once more in fresh places, the upper parts of two adjacent warehouses of the same block had caught, and were in flames. By eleven o'clock the fire was blazing as furiously as ever. Captain Shaw returned with new relays of men to assist those on the spot; and during the night and all the next day the force was busily at work. On the Monday night two firemen were so overcome by the smoke that they had to be removed, being nearly suffocated; but happily they recovered, and no life was lost during the fire. The streams of melted grease flowed from the burning warehouse into the quay, and thence to the dock basin, where by-and-by they cooled and solidified, looking something like snow on a frozen lake. Thirteen steam fire-engines and one float continued to throw immense quantities of water on the burning building; but the fire was not really subdued until the morning of January 3rd. A few engines remained on the Wednesday and the Thursday, and threw water on the heated ruins, to cool them down and quench any latent fire; while on January 4th, men were busy skimming the dock basin,--which was thickly covered with the solid tallow and oil,--and loading the mass into barges. After the conflagration, engines were employed in pumping water out of the vaults where it had collected, and as much jute was found injured by water as destroyed by fire. No doubt, it was the jute and the tallow and oil which rendered the conflagration so obstinate; but it was also found that while water collected to a great extent in some parts, yet it did not penetrate to other parts of even the same floor--a result which, perhaps, was due to the method of packing the jute. In the end, about three-parts of the block of warehouses was burned. The amount of tallow in the four burning buildings was calculated to range between two and three thousand casks, some of which appear to have been saved; but several hundred barrels of cocoanut oil and palm oil were lost as well, and the coir fibre, flax, and jute burnt reached to a very large quantity, the total pecuniary loss being estimated at over £200,000. This great fire proved a terrible object-lesson. For about two days and nights the engines and appliances of the brigade, with some two-thirds of the men, were engaged at this one conflagration. What if another great fire had broken out in those dark January days? The situation was fraught with the gravest peril. No doubt, voluntary aid at fires used often to be relied upon, and in 1861 payment was given to assistants. But the Metropolitan Board now had the means of strengthening the brigade, and they proceeded to use it. In marked contrast to the 130 men and 20 stations of the Fire Establishment of 1863, were the 591 firemen and 55 land fire-engine stations of the brigade in 1889, when it passed over to the London County Council--figures which show a notable development. [Illustration: SIR EYRE M. SHAW, K.C.B.] Further, there were also 83 coachmen and pilots, 131 horses, 150 engines (55 being worked by steam), 155 fire-escapes, and other ladders, with 33 miles of hose. By this time (1889) many provincial towns had established a fire-brigade on the London plan. The London County Council, having no restriction as to powers of rating, adopted Captain Shaw's recommendations--made in April, 1889--of a large increase in the brigade, and resolved to add 138 firemen, 4 new stations, with steamers and manuals, and 50 fire-escapes, and to raise the number of electrical fire-alarms to over 600. Since then, the increase has still continued, until in 1898 the brigade had an authorized fire-staff of nearly 1,100 men, with a certain number of store-keepers, etc.; while the telegraphic arrangements and distribution of stations were rendered so complete, that 100 men could be concentrated within fifteen minutes at any dangerous area for large fires. Furthermore, out of the authorized staff, 134 men are on watch by day, and 369 at night, giving a total of 503 constantly on duty during the twenty-four hours--a force that compares wonderfully with the total strength of about 130 men at Braidwood's death in 1861. This brigade strength of 1,048 included about 80 officers, 824 firemen, 96 coachmen, 17 pilots, and 32 men under instruction. To these must be added seventeen licensed watermen for navigating tug-boats, river-engines, etc., and also stores and office clerks. But twenty-four additional firemen, however, have been sanctioned, so that the complete staff would reach to about 1,080 men--a remarkable development of the staff of 80 men of the London Fire-Engine Establishment of 1832. These figures are only given to show how greatly the brigade has grown; for in the course of a few years, it is not improbable that the numbers may be still further increased. The number of stations has also been remarkably augmented. The 19 stations of 1832 have grown into nearly 200 for divers uses. Thus, there are 189 fire-escape stations, 59 stations with engines, 57 with hose-carts, 9 with hose- and ladder-trucks, 16 permanently established in centres of wide streets with fire-extinguishing and life-saving appliances, and 4 river stations. The appliances of the brigade have also greatly increased. There are 230 fire-escapes and police-ladders, 59 land steam fire-engines, 57 six-inch manuals, 7 small manuals called curricles, 175 horses which we may rank as most useful appliances, and 24,284 hydrants. These last-named are very important. They not only afford a ready and efficient means of throwing water on conflagrations, a means which is fast rendering the manual-engines of less and less importance; but they also yield a quick and ready method of water supply. Thus, in the year 1897 there were only three cases of unsatisfactory water supply. In addition to 24,284 hydrants of the London County Council, the corporation of the City have 800 hydrants, which are used for watering the streets as well as for extinguishing fires. In the year 1897, no fewer than 466 fires were put out by hydrants and stand-pipes. The increase of hydrants has been very conspicuous under the County Council. Thus, in March, 1889, the number was but 8,881, showing that no fewer than 15,403 were added during the first eight years of the Council's existence. No doubt, still more will follow. On March 31st, 1898, hydrants had been fixed or ordered in 97½ square miles of the county area, leaving a comparatively small space unprovided with these appliances. This space will doubtless be shortly supplied, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that, with the 800 in the City, the metropolis will ere long be sown with a total of about 30,000 hydrants, which, as the twentieth century dawns, may be regarded as among the most effectual means of fighting the fire at the disposal of the brigade. [Illustration: FIRE-HYDRANT PLACED UNDER THE PAVEMENT.] The establishment of these excellent appliances dates from 1871, and is bound up with the system of constant water supply. By the Metropolis Water Act of that year, it was provided that a water company, after giving a constant supply, must notify the fact to the local authority--now the County Council--which must then specify the fire-plugs or hydrants required, and the Council has the power under the Act of requiring water companies to provide a constant supply within parts of their districts. Hydrants are fully charged from the main, and have a commanding cock or tap attached, so that a supply of water can be obtained at once. The use of these appliances is very important. Planted at convenient and commanding spots,--often at the corners of streets or roadways, and at varying distances apart, ranging from fifty to about four hundred feet, according to the circumstances of the locality, and marked also, not only by the plate in the pavement, but by the letter H, placed in a conspicuous position near,--the fireman can now, at almost a moment's notice, find the hydrant, and obtain an ample supply of water for his engine, or even a jet of water for the fire, before an engine is on the spot. Very different from the troublesome and hindering work of floundering about, possibly in fog or rain or snow, to find the fire-plug, and then to find the turncock which governed the plug. On snowy or foggy nights, the difficulty and delay were sometimes very great; and the substitution of an extensive system of hydrants, with their quickly-obtained water-jets for the old fire-plugs, may rank as one of the most efficient means of fire extinction in the closing years of the nineteenth century. Firemen being thus interested in the pressure of water in the mains, an apparatus for recording the pressure automatically was fixed up at the fire-brigade headquarters at Southwark Bridge Road in November, 1898. A clock stands at the top of the instrument, and under the clock is a roll of paper, having the hours of day and night marked upon it, and divided into sections. A small pipe connected with the main runs under the big engine-room, and acts upon mechanism beneath the paper roll, and the clock and the column of water, and its pressure per inch, are marked in red ink upon the sheet, varying perhaps from forty up to seventy-five or even eighty pounds per square inch. At noon each day the sheet can be removed, and forms a permanent record of the variation in water pressure in the mains of the neighbourhood. But if the number of hydrants is large, the area to be protected by the brigade is also very large. Including the ancient city of London, which is estimated to cover about a square mile, the area measures about 118 square miles. Of these, twelve are estimated by the fire-brigade committee to be covered by parks and open spaces, where fire-hydrants will probably never be needed. This leaves, however, a net area of 106 square miles, extending from Sydenham to Highgate, and from Plumstead to Roehampton, to be efficiently protected by the brigade. Another means of water supply has been suggested. In his evidence at the Cripplegate Fire Enquiry, Mr. John F. Dane, an ex-officer of the Metropolitan Fire-Brigade, suggested that at the centre of the junction of the most important streets surrounded by large buildings underground tanks should be placed, and supplied by the main water-pipes. The tanks would be empty until required, and would be under the control of the brigade, while the hydrants should still be maintained for service. Such tanks were in use at Leeds and at Salford. The objection is raised, however, that the streets of the City are already too crowded with pipes, while advantage of the pressure from the water-main is lost, and also the vacuum caused by the engine. Noticing other improvements, we observe that the number of fire-alarm posts has also been greatly increased. The alarm consists of a red post in the street, with a glass face at the top front. The glass is readily broken, and the handle within it pulled, when a loud electric bell rings at the nearest fire-station. The Post-Office provides and maintains the fire-alarms; and Commander Wells, chief officer of the brigade, has devised a portable telephone, which can be plugged into a fire-alarm post, and a message sent by it from a fire to the station. Arrangements have been made with the Post-Office to supply the telephones and make the plug-holes. Over 2,380 fire-alarms were raised in 1897, of which 363 were maliciously-given false alarms. Practical jokes of this kind have been heavily punished, as they richly deserve. Many false alarms are also given which cannot be regarded as malicious, but are genuine mistakes, such as of supposed chimney fires. Over 500 of these were recorded in one year. In 1898, the number of malicious false alarms was happily less--_viz._, 270; while the full record of false alarms reached 830. The total number of fires in the metropolis in that year was 3,585--an average of nearly ten per day. This total gives an increase of 571 above the average; but only 205 out of the whole 3,585 were serious. There seems no doubt but that the public are learning to use the fire-alarms more readily and to give earlier intimation of fires. But, as the chief officer points out, while everybody knows the nearest letter-box, very few comparatively even now seem to know the nearest fire-alarm. Lamp-posts near the alarms are now painted red, and are fitted with a red pane of glass in order to attract attention; and we imagine the probability is that the alarms will be increasingly used at even the slightest appearance of fire. Not only is each fire-station connected with a dozen or more fire-alarms in its neighbourhood, but it is also in electric communication with other fire-stations. There are 114 lines of telephone between the stations, and sixteen between brigade- and police-stations; while electric communication exists between stations and ninety-eight public or other buildings. In fact, the whole fire-brigade establishment is bound together by a web of electric wire, the centre being the headquarters at Southwark. The remarkable organization of the brigade, famous for its leaders, famous for the bravery and skill of its men, and famous for the number and variety of its efficient appliances, has been a growth of comparatively few years. Starting in 1825 with the union of a few fire-office companies, it grew in seventy-three years to a remarkably strong and increasing force, with a multitude of hydrants, stations, horsed escapes, fire-alarms, and other appliances. The development attained in these seventy-odd years, as compared with the hundreds of years before, is surely marvellous, though doubtless some seeds of the development--as in the introduction of the modern fire-engine--were sown before. But step by step it has proceeded, utilizing now the discoveries of science and now the work of the engineer, until it has reached its great position of usefulness and of high esteem. It would be tedious to mark every detail of development. The work begun by his predecessors was carried still further by Captain Shaw, and under him the London Brigade became one of the most efficient in the world. [Illustration: COMMANDER WELLS.] He retired with a well-deserved pension in 1891, after about thirty years of service, and was succeeded by Mr. J. Sexton Simonds. Five years later Mr. Simonds retired; and in November, 1896, Commander Lionel Wells, R.N., was appointed chief officer. The brigade has also a second officer--Mr. Sidney G. Gamble; and in January, 1899, a third officer was appointed--Lieutenant Sampson Sladen, R.N. A few months after his accession, and in answer to the request of the fire-brigade committee of the County Council, the chief officer submitted a scheme for additional protection, including certain regulations of brigade management. Of this scheme, the more prominent features were the introduction of horsed fire-escapes, and the distribution of the men in small stations, with horses, whence they can be speedily concentrated wherever required. In short, the chief officer's object is that, at any call, the firemen may be able, if the machine leave the station at once, to arrive at the fire within five minutes' time; while the principle of station-work should be that each station is responsible for a certain area in its neighbourhood. The committee agreed with the opinions of the chief officer, and on February 8th, 1898, the full Council adopted the committee's proposals. Steps were forthwith taken to carry out the scheme, which thus marks another stage of development. But let us visit the headquarters, and see for ourselves something of this great organization actually at work. CHAPTER IX. A VISIT TO HEADQUARTERS. "We light our fires differently from everybody else," says the foreman. "We put shavings on top, the wood next, and the coal at the bottom; then we strike a steam-match, and drop it down the funnel, and, behold! the thing is done." It was the engine fire of which the foreman spoke, and he was pointing to one of the magnificent steam fire-engines at the headquarters of the London Brigade. [Illustration: HEADQUARTERS, METROPOLITAN FIRE-BRIGADE, SOUTHWARK.] "Here is a steam-match," he continued, "kept in readiness on the engine. It is like a very large fusee, and is specially made for us. Water won't put it out." He strikes the match, and it burns with a large flame. He plunges it into some water near by, and it still continues to burn. It evidently means to flame until the engine fire is burning fast. The wood also is carefully prepared, being fine deal ends, specially cut to the required size; while the coal is Welsh--the best for engine-boilers. These details may seem trivial; but they assist in the rapid kindling of the engine fire, which is not trivial. But the rapid kindling of the fire is not the only reason why the brigade raises steam so quickly in its engines; in addition, a gas-jet is always kept burning by the boiler, and maintains the water at nearly boiling-point before the fire is lighted. This was a method adopted by Captain Shaw. But even this arrangement does not explain everything. [Illustration: SECTION OF A STEAM FIRE-ENGINE BOILER.] To fully understand the mystery, we must leave this smart engine, shining in scarlet and flaming with brass, and go upstairs to the instruction-room for recruits. Here we can see a section of the engine fire-box and boiler. It is very interesting and very ingenious. But probably a novice would ask, "Where is the boiler? I see little else but tubes." That is the explanation. The tubes chiefly form the boiler; for they are full of water, and they communicate with a narrow space, or "jacket," also full of water, and which reaches all round the fire-box. This fire-box is held in a hollow below the tubes, which are placed in rows, one row across the other, just at the bottom of the funnel and above the fire-box. When, therefore, the flaming steam-match is dropped down the funnel, it finds its way straight down between the crossed mass of tubes to the shavings beneath; and the tubes full of the hot water are at once wrapped in heat from the newly-kindled and rapidly-burning fire. Every particle of heat and smoke and flame that rises must pass upward between the tubes. Furthermore, the hot water rises and the colder falls, so that there is a constant circulation maintained. The colder water is continually descending to the hottest tubes; and when bubbles of steam are formed, they rise with the hot water to the top. A space is reserved above the tubes, and around the funnel, called the "steam-space" or "steam-chest," where the steam can be stored; the steam pressure at which the engine frequently works being a hundred and twenty pounds to the square inch. The result of all these ingenious arrangements is that, starting with very hot water, a hundred pounds of steam can be raised in five minutes. "But," it may be asked, "why is a fire not always kept burning, and steam constantly at high pressure?" The answer is that a constant fire, whether of coal or of oil, would cause soot or smoke to accumulate; while the Bunsen gas-burner affords as clear a heat as any, and maintains the water at a great heat, or even at boiling-point. Near the funnel, but not so high, rises a large, gleaming metal cylinder, closed and dome-shaped. This is the indispensable air-chamber, without which even the powerful force-pumps could not yield so steady and persistent a stream. A small air-chamber is now added to the suction-pipe by which the water is drawn to the engine. The use of the air-chamber in connection with this pipe greatly steadies the engine, the vibration caused by the throbbing of the powerful machinery as it draws and forces along such a quantity of water being very great. The nozzle of the hose belonging to one of the largest steam fire-engines measures 1¼ inch in diameter, some nozzles being as small as ¾ inch; and a large column of water is being constantly driven along the hose at a pressure of a hundred and ten pounds to the square inch, and forced through the narrow nozzle; here it spurts out, in a large and powerful stream, to a distance of over a hundred feet. It is obvious, therefore, that the power exerted by the steam-driven force-pumps and air-chamber is very high; and although such an engine may be in some folks' opinion only a force-pump, it is a force-pump of a very elaborate character; and not inexpensive, the average price being about £1,000. Every steam fire-engine carries with it five hundred feet of hose. The hose is made in lengths of a hundred feet, costing about £7 a piece, without the connections. If you examine a length, you will find it made of stout canvas, and lined with india-rubber, the result being that, while it is very strong, it is yet very light. Miles of it are used in the service; and upstairs in the hose-room you will find a large stock kept in reserve. Every piece is tested before being accepted. [Illustration: POWERFUL STEAM FIRE-ENGINE FOR THE METROPOLITAN FIRE-BRIGADE. _Capacity, 350-400 gallons per minute. Delivered to the brigade, February 9th, 1899, by Messrs. Shand, Mason, & Co._] Water is forced through it by hydraulic power at a pressure of three hundred pounds to the square inch, so that when at work, with water rushing through at a hundred and ten pounds' pressure, it is not likely to split and spill the liquid on the ground. The splitting of hose in the face of a fierce fire would be a great calamity. When charged with water, its weight is very heavy; and to enable it to be carried more easily, a loop called a "becket" is attached at distances of about ten feet. The greatest care is taken of the hose. When it is brought back, drenched and dripping, from a fire, it is cleaned and scrubbed, and then suspended in the hose-well to dry. The hose-well is a high space, like a glorified chimney-shaft, without the soot, where the great lengths of canvas pipe can be hung up to dry. They are, in fact, not used again until they are once more in the pink of perfection. The outside public see the fire-brigade and their appliances smartly at work at big fires, but little know of the numerous details of drill and of management which are instrumental in producing the brilliant and efficient service. Look, for another instance, at the manuals' wheels. You will find them fitted with broad, wavy-shaped iron tyres, which extend over the side of the wheel and prevent it from tripping or slipping over tramway-lines in the headlong rush through the streets. And should a horse fall as he is tearing to the fire, that swivel-bar, which you will find at the end of the harness-pole, can be quickly turned, and in a moment the fallen steed is unhooked and helped to his feet again. The horses are harnessed quite as quickly. Behind the engine-room and across a narrow yard you will find five pairs of horses, and, like the men, some are always on the watch. Here they stand, ready harnessed, their faces turned round, and looking over the strip of yard to the engines. The harness is light, but efficient; and the animal's neck is relieved from the weight of the collar, as it is suspended from the roof. [Illustration: IN THE STABLES READY FOR ACTION.] Directly the fire-alarm clangs, the rope barring egress from the stall is unswivelled, the suspender of the collar swept aside, and the horse, eager, excited, and impatiently pawing the ground, is led across the narrow strip of yard, hooked on to the engine, and is ready for his headlong rush through the streets. Horses stand thus ready harnessed at all stations where they may be kept; and when their watch is over, they are relieved by others, even though they may not have been called out to a fire. So intelligent have some of these animals become, that they have been wont to trot out themselves, and take their places by the engine-pole without human guidance; and so expert are the men and so docile the horses, that the whole operation of harnessing to the engine occupies less than a minute, sometimes, indeed, only about fifteen or twenty seconds. Every man knows exactly what to do, and has his place fixed on the engine. There is consequently no confusion and no overlapping of work. A steam fire-engine has a "crew"--as the brigade call it--of one officer, one coachman, and four firemen. The officer No. 1 stands on the "near side" of the engine by the brake; No. 2 stands on the other side by the brake; No. 3 stands behind the officer, and No. 4 behind No. 2; No. 5 attends to the steam, and rides in the rear for that purpose; while the coachman handles the reins on the box. The positions are taken in a twinkling, the shed-doors open as swiftly, and away rush the impatient steeds, while the loud and exciting cry of "Fire! Fire!" rings from the firemen's throats as they speed along. Wonderfully that cry clears the way through the crowded streets. When the men arrive at the scene of action, the preparations proceed in the same orderly manner. Nos. 1 and 2 brake the wheels, and proceed to the fire; while the coachman, if necessary, removes the horses, and is prepared to take back any message with them, No. 1 charging No. 2 to convey the message to the coachman. By the chief officer's plan, however,--whereby a portable telephone, carried on a fire-engine, can be plugged into a fire-alarm post,--a message can be sent back from a fire by telephone instead of by a coachman. Meanwhile, No. 3 is opening the engine tool-box, and passing out the hydrant-shaft, hose, etc.; and No. 4 receives the hose, and connects it up with the water-mains, and places the dam or tank in which water is gathered from the hydrant. No. 3 is then busy with the delivery-hose, which is to pour the water on the flames; and No. 5 connects the suction-pipe. When ready, No. 4 hurries away with the "branch," as the delivery-pipe with nozzle is called; No. 3 helping with the hose attached to it--until sufficient is paid out--and connecting the lengths as required. Then, when all is finished, every one except the steam-man is ready to proceed to the fire, unless otherwise instructed. Every engine, it may be added, carries a turncock's bar, useful for raising the cover from the hydrants. So each one has his recognized duties in preparing the apparatus, all of which duties are duly set forth in the neat and concise little pocket drill-book prepared by Commander Wells. The most complete organization must be in operation, otherwise a force of a hundred or a hundred and fifty men, no matter how brave and zealous, gathered at one fire would only be too likely to get in one another's way. And in a similar manner the crews of manual-engines and horsed escapes have all their duties assigned in preparing the machines. During a conflagration, the superintendent of the district in which the fire occurs controls the operations under the superior officers; for London is divided, for fire purposes, into five districts, which are known to the brigade by letters. A District is the West End, and the superintendent's station is at Manchester Square; B District is the Central, and the superintendent's station is at Clerkenwell; C District is the East and North-East, with district superintendent's station at Whitechapel: all of these three being north of the Thames. The D District is the South-East of London, with superintendent's station at New Cross; and the E District in the South-West, with superintendent's station at Kennington. The headquarters, which are known as No. 1, and which used to be at Watling Street in the City, now occupy a central position in Southwark Bridge Road, and thence the chief officer can readily reach the scene of a fire. [Illustration: A TURN OUT FROM HEADQUARTERS AT SOUTHWARK.] All these stations are in electric communication, and all telegraph their doings to No. 1. The lines stretch from No. 1 to the five district superintendents' stations; from there they extend to the ordinary stations in each district; and from these stations again they reach to points such as street stations, and even in some cases to hose-cart stations. The consequence is, that superintendents and superior officers can speedily arrive on the spot; and that, if necessary, a very large force can be concentrated at a serious outbreak in a short time. Thus headquarters knows exactly how the men are all engaged, and the character of the fire to which they may be called. Electric bells seem always clanging. Messages come clicking in as to the progress of extinguishing fires, or notifying fresh calls, or announcing the stoppage of a conflagration. And should an alarm clang at night, all the other bells are set a-ringing, so that no one can mistake what's afoot. A list is compiled at headquarters of all these fires, the period of each list ranging from 6 a.m. to the same hour on the next morning. This list, with such details as can be supplied, is printed at once, and copies are in every insurance-office by about ten o'clock. The lists form, as it were, the log-book of the brigade. Some days the calls run up to seventeen or more, including false alarms; on other days they sink to a far fewer number; the average working out in 1898 to nearly ten calls daily. The Log also shows the causes of fires, so far as can be ascertained; and the upsetting of paraffin-lamps bulks largely as a frequent cause. The overheating of flues and the airing of linen also play their destructive part as causes of fires. The airing of linen is, indeed, an old offender. Evelyn writes in his Diary, under date January 19th, 1686: "This night was burnt to the ground my Lord Montague's palace in Bloomsbury, than which for painting and furniture there was nothing more glorious in England. This happened by the negligence of a servant airing, as they call it, some of the goods by the fire in a moist season; indeed, so wet and mild a winter had scarce been seen in man's memory." And now, more than two hundred years later, the same cause is prevalent. [Illustration: THE CHIEF'S OFFICE AT SOUTHWARK, METROPOLITAN FIRE-BRIGADE.] But the upsetting and exploding of lamps is now, perhaps, the chief cause, especially for small fires; and more deaths occur at small fires than at large. This is not surprising, when we remember that such lamps are generally used in sitting or bedrooms, where persons might quickly be wrapped in flames or overwhelmed with smoke. Smoke, indeed, forms a great danger with which firemen themselves have to contend. At a fire in Agar Street, Strand, in November, 1892, a fireman was killed primarily through smoke. He was standing on a fire-escape, when a dense cloud burst forth and overpowered him. He lost his grasp, and, falling forty feet to the earth below, injured his head so severely that he died. Again, several men nearly lost their lives through smoke at a fire about the same time at the London Docks. The firemen were in the building, when thick smoke, pouring up from some burning sacks, nearly choked them. Ever ready of resource, the men quickly used some hose they had with them as life-lines, and slipped from the windows by means of the hose to the ground below. Nevertheless, dense smoke is not the greatest danger with which firemen are threatened. Their greatest peril comes from falling girders and walls, from tottering pieces of masonry, and burning fragments of buildings, shattered and shaken by the fierce heat. Helmets may be seen in the museum at headquarters showing fearful blows and deep indentations from falling fragments of masonry, and firemen would probably tell you that they suffer more from this cause than any other. For small fires in rooms, little hand-pumps, kept in hose-carts, are most useful. They can be speedily brought to bear directly on the flames and prevent them from spreading. These little pumps can be taken anywhere; they are used with a bucket, which is kept full of water by assistants, who pour water into it from other buckets. The fire, large or small, being extinguished, a message to that effect is sent to headquarters, and the firemen return, with the possible exception of one or two men to keep guard against a renewed outbreak. In the case of larger fires, perhaps half a dozen men and an engine will remain; while on returning, the various appliances have all to be prepared in readiness to answer another alarm. It sometimes happens that a fireman may be on duty for many hours at a stretch, or may only have time to snatch an hour's sleep with clothes and boots on; for nearly every hour a fresh alarm comes clanging into the station, telling of a new fire in some part of busy London. And for any real need, there is, I trow, no grumbling or complaint from the brave men. But the miscreant detected in raising a malicious false alarm would have scant mercy. He would be promptly handed over to the police, and the magistrate would punish him severely--perhaps with a month's imprisonment. When not actually engaged at fires, the men find plenty to do in painting and repairing appliances, attending to horses, and keeping up everything to the pink of perfection. The hours on duty and for specified work are all marked down in the brigade-station routine, general work commencing at 7 a.m., and ending at one, while allowing for a "stand easy" of fifteen minutes at eleven. The testing of all fire-alarms once in every twenty-four hours, excepting Sundays and before six o'clock at night, also forms part of the brigade-station routine. Every fireman, however, has a spell of twenty-four hours entirely off duty in the fortnight; but at all other times he is ready to be called away. Indeed, men on leave are liable to be summoned in case of urgent necessity; but such time is made up to them afterwards. Now, before being drafted into the effective ranks, all the men have to pass through a three months' daily drill at headquarters. The buildings are very extensive, affording accommodation for about a hundred men, thirty-five or so being the recruits. In the centre, enclosed by the buildings, stretches a large square, in which the drill takes place. To see the combined drill is something like seeing the brigade actually at work; and this being Wednesday afternoon, and three o'clock striking, here come the squad of men marching steadily into the yard. The evolutions are about to begin. CHAPTER X. HOW RECRUITS ARE TRAINED. Tramp, tramp, tramp! Two lines of wiry, muscular young men march into the centre of the yard. "Halt! Right about face!" Quick as thought the men pause and wheel around. Indian clubs and dumb-bells! The opening of the drill this afternoon is a course of exercises with these familiar appliances; but they soon give place to other evolutions, such as jumping in the sheet, practise with the engines, rescue by the fire-escape, and the chair-knot. Round and round whirl the clubs. Every day some section of the drill is taken; but on Wednesday afternoons, the whole or combined drill is practised. All candidates must have been sailors; no one need apply who has not been at least four years an A.B. Further, they must be between the ages of twenty-one and thirty, and able to pull over the escape; that is, they must be able to pull up a fire-escape ladder from the ground by the levers. The height of the ladder is about 28 feet, and the pull is equal to a weight of about 244 pounds. It is a hard pull, and a severe test of a man's strength; but after the first twelve feet, the weight seems lessened, as the man's own weight assists him. In this test, as in some other things, it is the first step that costs. Should the candidate pass this test successfully, he is examined by the doctor; finally, he comes to headquarters for his probationary drills. [Illustration: TESTS OF STRENGTH FOR MEN ENTERING THE FIRE-BRIGADE: PULLING UP THE ESCAPE.] "Open order!" The men break off from their gymnastic exercises, and in obedience to instructions some of them run for large canvas sheets, and spread them out, partly folded on the ground. Then others calmly lie themselves down on these sheets. What is going to happen? The recruits approach the recumbent figures, which lie there quite still, and apparently heavy as lead; the lifeless feet are placed close together, and the limp, inanimate arms arranged beside the body. Then, at a word or a sign, the bodies are picked up as easily as though they were tiny children, and carried over the recruits' shoulders--each recruit with his man--some distance along the yard. The men are practising the art of taking up an unconscious person, overcome may be by smoke, or heat and flame, and carrying him in the most efficient manner possible out of danger. There is more in this exercise than might at first appear. It might seem a comparatively easy task--if only you had sufficient strength--to throw a man over your shoulder and carry him thus, even leaving one of your hands and arms quite free; but you would find it not so easy in the midst of blinding flame and choking smoke; you would find it not so easy to pick your uncertain way through a burning building and over flaming floors, over a sloping roof or shaky parapet, and even down a fire-escape. Hence the urgent necessity that the fireman should be so well practised, that in a moment he can catch up an insensible, or even conscious person in exactly the most efficient manner, and, with hand and arm free, be able to find his way quickly out of the fire. He must be cool and clear-headed, dexterous, and sure-footed, ready of resource, and quick yet reliable in all his movements; and to these ends, as to others, the drill is directed. Captain Shaw's advice to those beginning "in the business of extinguishing fires" may be quoted here from his volume on "Fire and Fire-Brigades." "Go slowly," he says, "avoid enthusiasm, watch and study, labour and learn, flinch from no risk in the line of duty, and be liberal and just to fellow-workers of every grade." But shouts of laughter are rising, as presently two or three of the recruits at the drill appear in a long flowing skirt, and look awkward enough in their unaccustomed garments as they stride along. They imitate women for the nonce, and are rescued in a similar manner, the men also carrying apparently lifeless figures down the ladders of the escapes. [Illustration: ESCAPE-DRILL.] The sheets, however, are used for other purposes of drill. See! A group of men are opening one out, and carrying it below an open window some twenty-five feet above the ground. There are fourteen or so of these men, and they grip the sheet firmly all round, and spread it out a little less than breast-high. A man appears at the window, twenty-five feet or so above. He is about to jump into the sheet far below. At the cry he leaps, or rather drops, down plump into the sheet; and the force of the fall is so great, that, unless these men were all leaning well backward, it would drag them toward the ground, and the rescued man sustain injury. As it is, they are all dragged pretty well forward by the impact of the fall. A person jumping like this into a sheet should drop down into it, not spring, as though intending to cover a great space. And the persons holding the sheet should lean as far backward as possible. If they simply held the sheet, standing upright in the ordinary way, no matter how firm the grip, they would probably all be dragged to the ground in a heap. The jumping-sheet is made of the best strong canvas about 9 feet square, and strengthened with strips of webbing fastened diagonally across. The sheet is also bound round at the edges with strong bolt-rope, and is furnished with about a score of hand-beckets, or loops. If at a fire all other means of rescue be unavailable, the sheet should be brought into use. Volunteers, if necessary, should be pressed into the service, and instructed to stretch out the sheet by the beckets, holding it about two feet or so from the ground. They should grasp the becket firmly with both hands, the arms being stretched at full length, their feet planted well forward, but their heads and bodies thrown as far back as possible. Even then the volunteers will probably find great difficulty in maintaining the sheet, and preventing it from dashing on the ground. If possible, a mattress or pile of straw or some soft object should be placed on the ground beneath the sheet. The uninitiated have no idea of the weight of a body suddenly falling or jumping on to the sheet from a great height, and this occasion is one for the putting forth of all the strength of body and determination of will of which a man may be capable. But, now the sheet is being folded, and men are appearing on the roofs of the buildings above. A new exercise is beginning. Rescue by rope is now to be practised, and long threads of rope begin to appear. Imagine yourself a fireman on the top of a burning house, with smoke and flame belching out of the windows below, and agonizing screams for help ringing in your ears. No fire-escape is near, or, if near, not available; for it sometimes happens that persons cannot be rescued by ladders, and the staircase is a mass of flames. What would you do? It is then that the firemen use the chair-knot, or, speaking popularly, they try rescue by rope. Every engine carries excellent rope of tanned manilla, and the fireman carries a rope about his body. Quickly the ends of the rope are fastened to two points, one on either side of the window--to a chimney-stack, if possible; then, as sailors know how, by means of what is called a "tomfool's knot," loops and knots are made in the rope--one loop to be slung under the arms, and the other to support the knees, and together forming a sort of chair. Speedily the loops are adjusted round the person to be rescued, and then he is gradually lowered to the ground. A guiding-rope has been attached, and thrown to the men below, and is used by them to steady the person's descent, to prevent him from bobbing hither and thither, or to draw him out of reach of the flame and smoke. This exercise being over, there is a rattle and a clatter, and into the yard dashes a horsed fire-escape. The men pounce upon it at once, and in a trice whip it off its carriage and wheel it to the building. The present escapes are great improvements on the old forms, and two men can extend it with ease. The first or main ladder of the escape reaches about 24 feet high; and in the 1897 pattern the 40-feet ladders having one extension. Other escapes have extending-ladders rising to a height of 50 feet, and even 70 feet, these being in three lengths. But an Act of Parliament now provides that all buildings above a certain height must have means of exit attached; this generally takes the form of iron ladders or stairways outside the building. All parts of an escape are as far as possible interchangeable, and the ladder-vans are designed to carry any ladders in the brigade. And now the escape-drill is about to commence. The machine is placed against the building, which we must suppose to be burning. Up runs a fireman, with hands and feet on the rungs, to the window where the top of the ladder rests. If the window will not open readily, he may, in case of real need, smash it with his axe to obtain ready entrance. Then, if you watched him closely, you would see he did something which you would never think of doing. He fastens the end of his rope to the rung of his ladder, and, with the rest of the rope coiled over his arm, disappears into the room. The rope easily runs out as he moves, and affords him a means of speedily finding his way back to the window through the smoke; a very valuable arrangement it may prove to be, when the fireman finds an insensible person or a couple of children to rescue. One child he carries in his arm, and the other he throws across his shoulder, in the recognized brigade manner; and loaded thus, he gropes his way, guided by his one free hand, along the rope. Or there may be more than one adult to save. Then the rescued person is carried over the shoulder to the top of the trough, or shoot of netting, with which some escapes used to be fitted at the back of the escape-ladder, and is slipped down it feet first to the firemen waiting below; while the plucky fireman above returns for the next person in peril. The fireman will probably follow the last down the shoot by turning a somersault and coming down head first; meantime, holding the other's hands, and regulating the speed of the descent by pressing his knees and elbows against the sides of the netting. But without the shoot he descends by the ladder. Should the fire occur at a house surrounded by garden-wall, shrubs, or forecourt, the machine is wheeled as close as possible, and the extension or additional ladders can be placed at a somewhat different angle from the first, so as to bridge over the intervening space and reach the farthest window. The ladders of fire-escapes may also be useful substitutes for water-towers. A water-tower is a huge pipe, running up beside the ladder, or tower; and as three or four steamers play into the base of the huge pipe, the water is forced up it, and the jet at the top can then be directed anywhere into the burning building. "But we don't want any water-towers," exclaimed a fireman; "we can make one ourselves, if we need one." That is, by using the fire-escape ladders to obtain points of vantage. We soon see this accomplished. With a rush of horses and a whiz of steam, a fire-engine tears into the yard, the steam raising the safety-valve at a pressure of a hundred and twenty pounds to the square inch. Off leap the men, as though actually at a fire; each one attends to his prescribed duty; and ere long you see one of the men hurrying up the escape-ladder bearing the branch in his hand--_i.e._, the heavy nozzle end of the hose. In a second the engine whistles, there is a spurt of water, and the fireman directs the jet from the distant head of the ladder to a tank in the centre of the yard. The beckets on the hose, placed at intervals of seventeen and then twenty feet, over a hundred-feet length, are made of leather; and are most useful for fastening it to a chimney or any point of vantage by means of the fireman's rope. The weight of a hundred-feet length when complete ranges from sixty to sixty-five pounds, and when full of water much more. The hose for the London Brigade is woven seamless, of the best flax; and the interior india-rubber lining is afterwards introduced, and fastened by an adhesive solution. Unlined hose is used by some provincial brigades; and it is contended that the water passing through it keeps it wet, and therefore not liable to be burned by the great heat of the conflagration. On the other hand, the leakage is said to be a very objectionable defect. The internal diameter of the hose is two inches clear at the couplings, but a little larger within. The steam-man is taught to remember the great power he rules; otherwise he may, by neglecting to give the warning whistle, endanger his brother-fireman's life by suddenly sending the water rushing through the hose, or bringing a great strain upon it, when the men controlling it are not prepared. It may appear an easy thing to stand on a ladder or a house-top, and direct the jet on the fire; but it is not so easy to carry and to guide the long, heavy, and to some extent sinuous pipe, full of the heavy water throbbing and gushing through it at such tremendous pressure, especially when your foothold is none too secure. A fireman lost his life one night, when holding the hose on the parapet of a roof in the Greenwich Road. He overbalanced himself, and fell crashing, head downward, sixty feet or more below, and met a terrible death. Whether this fearful accident was entirely due to the heavy hose, we cannot say; but unless hose be laid straight, it is apt to struggle like a living thing. The reason is obvious. The water rushes through it at great pressure; and if the hose be not quite straight, the pressure on the bent part of the hose is so great that it struggles to straighten itself. Consequently, a fireman turning a stream will probably have to use a great deal of strength. The increase in velocity of the water by the use of a branch and nozzle is, of course, very great. A branch-pipe is defined by Commander Wells as "the guiding-pipe from hose to nozzle." Some branches are made of metal; but leather branches are being substituted for long metal pipes. Some of these latter measured from 4 to 6 feet long, and were not only very cumbersome to carry, but often impracticable to use with efficiency inside buildings. Leather branch-pipes are sometimes longer, and are tapered from 2 inches in diameter to 1½ inch at the nozzle. When, therefore, a stream of water from two to two and a half inches in diameter, forced along at a great pressure, and distending the hose to its utmost capacity, is driven through the narrowing path of the branch-pipe, it spurts out from the nozzle at a much higher velocity; and it is just this narrowing part of the hose which the fireman has to handle, and whence he directs the jet. Some nozzles are like rose watering-can pipes, and are furnished with a hundred holes to distribute the water. These nozzles are useful in interior conflagrations and smoky rooms. Yet, all important as is the engine-drill, and invaluable as are the engines for serious conflagrations, it is interesting to read in the Brigade Report that in 1897 no fewer than 808 fires were extinguished by buckets, and 460 by hand-pumps, while 98 were extinguished by engines, and, as we have said, 466 by hydrants and stand-pipes. The brigade bucket carried on the engine holds about 2½ gallons, and is made of canvas; it is collapsible, cane hoops being used for the top and bottom rings. Drill is maintained even for bucket and hand-pump; and the latter appliance is so portable, that the whole of the gear pertaining to it, including two ten-feet lengths of hose, is carried in a canvas bag. Hand-pumps are often used for chimney fires. Two men usually attend, and expect to find a bucket in the house. They pour small quantities of water on the fire in the grate, and allow as large a quantity of steam as possible to pass up the flue. When the fire in the grate is quenched, the men use the hand-pump on the fire in the lower part of the chimney, and then, mounting to the roof, pour water down the chimney. As sometimes the ends of wooden joists are built into the flues, an examination should be made to discover if the lead on the roof or in any place shows signs of unusual heat, and the joists have caught fire; for outbreaks of fire have been known to occur from this obscure cause. A comparatively simple but effective means of dealing with a chimney fire is to block up both ends of the chimney with thoroughly wet mats or sacks; while one of the easiest methods is to throw common salt on the fire. The heat decomposes the salt, and sets free chlorine gas--common salt being chloride of sodium, and chlorine being a gas which very feebly supports combustion, and tends to choke and dull a fire, if not to extinguish it entirely. And so the drill goes on, with scaling-ladders and long ladders, hose-carts and horsed escapes, steamers and manual-engines, the object of the whole being, not alone to perfect the men in their knowledge of the gear and machines, and skill in using them, but also to develop quickness of eye, and readiness and firmness of hand. A systematic routine is followed by fully-qualified instructors, part of the course being theoretical and part practical; while about the year 1898 a new syllabus of instruction came into use. Among other alterations, it was arranged that a selected officer should take charge of the recruits' drill for about two years, instead of engineers appointed at comparatively short intervals. Further, it was decided to permanently increase the authorized number of recruits, with the anticipation that never fewer than thirty men will be under instruction; and to prohibit them, if possible, from being called away to engage in cleaning or other work, so that their instruction drill should never be interrupted. When the men have passed through a three months' course of instruction, they should be ready to be drafted into the ranks as fourth-class firemen. The men in the brigade are divided into four classes; in addition to which, there are coachmen, and licensed watermen for the river-craft, also engineers, foremen, and superintendents, the whole being in charge of a chief officer and a second and third officer. First aid to the injured is also included in the instruction of the men; and the Recruits Instruction-Room and Museum contains a beautifully-jointed skeleton, kept respectfully in a case, for anatomical lessons. [Illustration: RELICS OF THE BRAVE.] Further, if you search the indispensable boxes on the engines, you will find among the mattocks and shovels, the saws and spanners and turncock's tools, a few medical and surgical appliances. Every engine carries a pint of Carron oil, which is excellent for burns. Carron oil is so called from the Carron Ironworks, where it has long been used, and consists of equal parts of linseed oil and limewater; olive oil may be used, if linseed oil be not procurable. Carron oil may be used on rags or lint; and triangular and roller bandages are carried with the oil, also a packet of surgeon's lint and a packet of cotton-wool. Accidents which are at all serious are, of course, taken as soon as possible to the hospital. But, alas! some accidents occur which no Carron oil can soothe, or hospital heal; and on that roll of honour in the little room beside the big engine-shed, and in the blackened bits of clothing and discoloured, dented helmets in the museum in the instruction-room, you find ample demonstration that a fireman's life is often full of considerable risk. These are the mute but touching memorials of the men who have died in the service; to each one belongs some heroic tale. Let us hear a few of these stories; let us endeavour to make these charred memorials speak, and tell us something of the brave deeds and thrilling tragedies connected with their silent but eloquent presence here. Listen, then, to some stories of the brigade. CHAPTER XI. SOME STORIES OF THE BRIGADE. Here are two tarnished and dented helmets of brass. They belonged respectively to Assistant-Officer Ashford and to Fourth-class Fireman Berg, who both lost their lives at the same great conflagration. About one o'clock in the early morning of December 7th, 1882, the West London policemen, stepping quietly on their beat about Leicester Square, discovered that the Alhambra Theatre was on fire. A fireman on watch within the building had made the same discovery, and with his comrade was working to subdue the flames. But they proved too strong for the men. The nearest brigade station was speedily aroused, the news telegraphed to others, and ere long several fire-engines had hurried to the spot. Quickly they were placed at different points about the building, and streams of water were thrown on the fire. But in spite of all efforts, it gained rapidly on the large structure. The position was fairly high and central, and the flames and ruddy glow in the sky were visible in all parts of London; even at that hour spectators rushed in numbers to the scene and crowded the surrounding streets. It was with difficulty that the police could prevent them from forcing themselves into even dangerous situations. The heat was intense, and as far off as the other side of the spacious square it struck unpleasantly to the face. The flames darted high in the air as if in triumph, and the huge rolling clouds of smoke became illumined by the brilliant light. Several notable buildings in the neighbourhood stood out clearly in the vivid glow as though in the splendour of a gorgeous sunset, while high amid the towering flames stood the picturesque Oriental minarets of the building as though determined not to yield. The firemen endured a fearful time. Some stood in the windows, surrounded, it seemed, by sparks of fire. Mounting fire-escapes also, they poured water from these points of vantage into the burning building. By half-past one twenty-four steam fire-engines were at work, and at that time the brigade had only thirty-five effective steamers in the force. At about two o'clock the minarets and the roof fell in with a tremendous crash, and still the flames shot upward from the basement. Crash now succeeded crash; girders, boxes, galleries, all fell in the general ruin. Moreover, the fire leaped out of the building, and began to attack other houses at the back. A number of small and crowded tenements existed here, and the danger of an extended and disastrous fire became very great. But the efforts of the firemen were happily successful in preventing its increase to any considerable extent. It was while working on an escape-ladder that Berg met with his death. An escape had been placed against the building next to the front of the theatre, and he was engaged in directing the jet of water from the extended or "fly" ladder fifty feet high, when from some cause--probably the slipperiness of the ladder-rungs--he lost his footing, and crashed head-foremost to the ground. When taken up, he was found to be insensible; and while the fearful flames were still raging, and his comrades were still at work, he was conveyed to the Charing Cross Hospital. Among other injuries which he had received was a fracture of the head; and after lingering a few days, and lapsing into long fits of unconsciousness, he died. Not long after Berg was admitted to the hospital on that fearful night, another fireman was carried thither from the same place. This sufferer was Assistant-Officer Ashford, who arrived at the fire in charge of an engine from Southwark. He was standing behind the stage, when a wall fell upon him and crushed him to the ground. His comrades hurried to rescue him, and he was quickly taken to the hospital; but his back was found to be broken, and he had also sustained serious internal injuries. After lingering for a few hours in great pain, he died. He had been thirteen years in the brigade, and was married. Several other accidents occurred at this great fire. At the same time that Ashford was stricken down, Engineer Chatterton, who was standing near him, was stunned, and narrowly escaped with his life. Four other firemen were also injured, one suffering from burns, one from sprain and contusions of the legs, one from falling through a skylight and cutting his hands, and one from slipping from a steam fire-engine on returning to Rotherhithe and breaking his arm. These incidents show how various are the heavy risks the firemen run in the course of their work. When any member of the brigade dies in the execution of his duty, it has been customary to accord the body a public funeral, and Ashford's obsequies proved a very solemn and imposing ceremony. At eleven o'clock on December 14th, a large crowd assembled in Southwark Bridge Road, and detachments of officers and men had been drawn from various fire-stations, until nearly three hundred representatives of the brigade were present. A large number of policemen also joined the procession. It had a long way to traverse to Highgate Cemetery, where the burial took place. The coffin, of polished oak, was carried on a manual-engine, and covered by a Union Jack, the helmet of the deceased and a beautiful wreath subscribed for by members of the brigade being placed upon the flag. Three police bands preceded the coffin, and after it came mourning-coaches with the relatives of the deceased. Captain Shaw followed, leading, with Mr. Sexton Simonds, the second officer and the chairman of the brigade committee of the Board of Works; then came the large body of firemen with their flashing brass helmets; superintendents and engineers were also present, and the large contingent of police. Finally, followed six manual-engines in their vivid scarlet, and representatives of the salvage corps and of volunteer brigades. The procession marched slowly and solemnly, the bands playing the Dead March in "Saul." And thus, with simple yet effective ceremony, the crushed and broken body was borne through London streets to its last resting-place. It may be interesting to trace here the chief particulars of the fire, to illustrate the working of the brigade. Of the firemen watching on the premises, one had gone his round, when about one o'clock, on going on the stage, he saw the balcony ablaze. He aroused Hutchings, another fireman who slept at the theatre, and the two got a hydrant to work, there having been several fitted in the building; they also despatched a messenger to Chandos Street station, which is quite near. The fire proved too strong for the hydrant to quench it; and when the manual-engine from the station arrived, a fairly fierce fire was in progress. Meantime, directly the alarm had been received at Chandos Street, it was, as is customary, sent on to the station of the superintendent of the district, and thence it was circulated to all the stations in the district, and also to headquarters. Captain Shaw was soon on the spot, and directed the operations in person. Of course, such a call as "The Alhambra Theatre alight!" would cause a number of engines to assemble; and in truth, they hurried from all points of the district: they came from Holloway and Islington, from St. Luke's and Holborn. But soon "more aid" was telegraphed for; and then engines came flying from Westminster and Brompton, from Kensington and Paddington, even from Mile End and Shadwell in the far east, and from Rotherhithe, Deptford, and Greenwich across the Thames. In rapid succession, they thundered along the midnight streets, waking sleepers in their warm beds, and paused not until the excited horses were pulled up before the furious fire. In fact, just within half an hour of the first call at Chandos Street station, twenty-four steamers were at work on the fire, and throwing water upon the flames from every possible point. Captain Shaw was assisted by his lieutenant, Mr. Sexton Simonds, and Superintendents Gatehouse and Palmer. The contents of the building were so inflammable, or the fire had obtained such a firm hold, that the enormous quantities of water thrown upon it appeared to exercise little or no effect. But at length, when the roof had fallen, the firemen seemed to gain somewhat on their enemy; and they turned their attention to the dwellings in Castle Street, and prevented the flames from spreading there. Finally, three hours after the outbreak, that is, about four in the morning, the fire was practically suppressed. Several of the surrounding buildings were damaged by fire and heat, and by smoke and water. In the dim wintry dawn, the scene that slowly became revealed presented a remarkable spectacle. Looking at it from the stage door, the blackened front wall could be seen still standing, though the windows had gone, and within yawned a huge pit of ruin. Scorched remains of boxes and galleries, dressing-rooms and roof, all were here; while huge girders could be seen twisted and rent and distorted into all manner of curious shapes, which spoke more eloquently than words of the fearful heat which had been raging. The value of strong iron doors, however, was demonstrated; for the paint-room had been shut off by these doors from the rest of the building, and the flames had not entered it. But to turn to other relics in the museum. Here lies a terrible little collection,--a part of a tunic, a belt-buckle, an iron spanner, part of a blackened helmet, and part of a branch-pipe and nozzle. They are the memorials of a man who was burnt at his post. Early in the afternoon of September 13th, 1889, an alarm was sent to the Wandsworth High Street fire-station. The upper part of a very high building in Bell Lane, occupied by Burroughs & Wellcome, manufacturing chemists, was found to be on fire. The time was then about a quarter-past two, and very speedily a manual-engine from the High Street station was on the spot. A stand-pipe was at once utilized, and Engineer Howard, with two third-class firemen, named respectively Jacobs and Ashby, took the hose up the staircase to reach the flames. Unfortunately, the stairs were at the other end of the building, and the men had to go back along the upper floor to arrive at the point where the fire was burning. Having placed his two men, Engineer Howard went for further assistance. Amid suffocating smoke, Jacobs and Ashby stood at their post, turning the water on the fire; and their efforts appeared likely to be successful, when suddenly, a great outburst of flame occurred behind them, cutting off their escape by the staircase. It was a terrible position,--fire before and behind, and no escape but the window! Both men rushed to a casement, and cried aloud, "Throw up a line!" The crowd below saw the men tearing at the window-bars and endeavouring to break them, while the fire rapidly spread towards them. Could no help be given? Howard had endeavoured to rejoin the two men, and, finding this impracticable, turned to obtain external aid. The ladders on the engine were fixed together, but they fell far short of the high window. A builder's ladder was added; but even this extension would not reach the two men caged up high above in such fearful peril. A moment or two of dreadful suspense, and then the crowd burst forth into loud cheers. Ashby was seen to be forcing his way through the iron bars. He was small in stature, and his size was in his favour. By some means, perhaps scarcely known to himself, he dropped down to the top of the ladder and clung there, and finally, though very much burned, he reached the ground in safety. But the other? Alas! his case was far different. It is supposed that the smoke overcame him, and that he fell on his face; but he was never seen alive again. Engines rattled up from all parts of London, and quantities of water were thrown on the flames, but to no effect so far as he was concerned. When the fire was subdued, and the men hastily made their way to the upper floor, they found only his charred remains. He had died at his post, the smoke suffocation, it may be hoped, rendering him insensible to pain. But an even more terrible accident happened to a fireman named Ford, in October, 1871. His death, after saving six persons, remains one of the most terrible in the annals of the brigade. [Illustration: FIREMAN FORD AT THE GRAY'S INN ROAD FIRE.] About two in the morning of October 7th, 1871, an alarm of fire reached the Holborn station. The call came from Gray's Inn Road; and Ford, who had charge of the fire-escape, was soon at the scene of action. He found a fire raging in the house of a chemist at No. 98 in the road, and the inmates were crying for help at the windows. Placing the escape against the building, he hurried to a window in one of the upper floors, and, assisted by a policeman, brought down five of the inhabitants in safety. Still there was one remaining, and frantic cries from a woman in a window above led him to rush up the escape once more. He had taken her from the building, and was conveying her down the escape, when a burst of flame belched out from the first floor and kindled the canvas "shoot" of the escape. In a second, both the fireman and the rescued woman were surrounded by fire. Unable to hold her any longer, he dropped her to the ground, where she alighted without suffering any serious injury. But the fireman became entangled in the wire netting of the machine, and it held him there in its cruel grasp, in spite of all his struggles, while the fierce fire roasted him alive. At length, by a desperate effort, he broke the netting, apparently by straining the rungs of the ladder; but he himself fell to the ground so heavily, that his helmet was quite doubled up, and its brasswork hurt his head severely. His clothes were burning as he lay on the pavement; but, happily, they were soon extinguished, and he was removed, suffering great agony, to the Royal Free Hospital in the Gray's Inn Road. He lingered until eight o'clock on the evening of the same day, when he died. He was only about thirty years of age, and had been four years in the brigade, where he bore a good character. A subscription was raised for his widow and two children, and his funeral was an imposing and solemn ceremony. The coffin was borne on a fire-engine drawn by four horses to Abney Park Cemetery, and was followed by detachments of firemen and of police. It is a peculiarly sad feature of this case that, after saving so many lives, he should himself have succumbed, and that the very machine intended to save life should have been the cause of his death. At the inquest the jury added to their verdict the remark that, had the canvas been non-inflammable (means having been discovered to render fabrics non-inflammable), and had the machine been covered with wire gauze instead of the netting, Ford's life might have been saved. Considerable improvements have been made in fire-escapes since then, and machines of various patterns are in use in the brigade; but, speaking generally, it may be said that the shoot, when used, is made of copper netting, which is, of course, non-inflammable. Happily, all the brave deeds of the firemen do not meet with personal disaster. One brilliant summer afternoon in July, 1897, the Duke and Duchess of York were present at the annual review of the brigade on Clapham Common, and the Duchess pinned the silver medal for bravery on the breast of Third-class Fireman Arthur Whaley, and the good service medal was given to many members of the brigade. Whaley had saved two little boys from a burning building, and his silver medal is a highly-prized and honourable memorial of his gallant deed. About one o'clock on the early morning of April 26th, 1897, a passer-by noticed that a coffee-house in Caledonian Road, North London, was on fire. Several policemen hurried to the spot; but in three minutes from the first discovery the place was in flames. The house was full of people. Mr. Bray, the occupier, was apparently the first inmate to notice the fire from within, and the others were soon aroused. The terrified people appeared at the windows, and, impelled by the cruel fire, threw themselves one after the other into the street below. They numbered Mr. and Mrs. Bray and four daughters; all except Mr. Bray appeared to be injured, and were taken to the hospital. Some one also threw a child into the street, and he was caught by one of the persons passing by. And now up came the firemen with their escape from Copenhagen Street. Pitching it against the house, they hurried to the upper windows. From one of these they brought down a young woman, who was sadly burnt about the face, and she was sent also to the hospital. Penetrating still farther amid the smoke and flame, Arthur Whaley groped about, and found two lads asleep, and, bearing them out, saved their lives by means of the escape. The fire did considerable damage before it was finally extinguished; but when the stand-pipes were got fully to work, the flames were quickly subdued. One of the daughters died from severe burns soon after her admission to the hospital, and it was afterwards found that a girl of fifteen had been unhappily suffocated in bed. But for the bravery of Whaley, the two little boys might have suffered the same sad fate. These true stories of work in the brigade show how various are the perilous risks to which firemen are liable. Danger, indeed, meets them at every turn, and in almost every guise. To cope with these risks requires instant readiness of resource as well as knowledge and skill. In times when seconds count as hours, it is not enough to know what to do, but how to do it with the utmost smartness and efficiency. Improved appliances will greatly assist the men; and Commander Wells's horsed escape fully justified expectations soon after its introduction. It can be hurried through the streets at twelve miles an hour, and the wonder is that the brigade used the old hand-driven machine with its slow pace so long. In December, 1898, a horsed escape reached a fire in Goswell Road in a minute from the alarm signalling in St. John's Square fire-station, and saved three lives,--an instance of very smart work that might establish a record, except that great smartness is everywhere the characteristic of the brigade. Let us, then, look at the story of the fire-escape a little more closely, and also at some of the new improved appliances, such as the new fire-engine floats and the river-service. CHAPTER XII. FIRE-ESCAPES AND FIRE-FLOATS. "Very smart indeed." The speaker was watching a light van, which had just been whirled into a yard. Light ladders projected horizontally in front of the van, and large wheels hung behind, a few inches above-ground. The machine was glowing in brilliant red paint. Off jump five men in shining brass helmets. "Stand by to slip!" cries one of the men, who is known as No. 1. Thereupon, another man casts off some fastenings at the head of the van, and controls the ladders until the large wheels touch the roadway; another man eases away certain tackle; and yet another, as by a magical touch, brings the ladder to an upright position directly the big red wheels come in contact with the ground, No. 2 man assisting him. The whole operation is performed with great smartness, and the escape--for the machine is one of Commander Wells's new horsed escapes--is whipped off its van and reared against the house in the proverbial twinkling of an eye. Such a scene may be witnessed any afternoon at the London Fire-Brigade Headquarters, when the horse-escape drill is being practised; and the superiority of the new machine over the old seems so obvious, that you exclaim: "I wonder it has not been done before!" The men's positions are all assigned to them. The "crew," as it is called, consists of four firemen and a coachman. When hurrying to a fire, No. 1 takes his place on the near side in front, No. 2 is at the brake on the off side, No. 3 at the brake on the near side, while No. 4 takes his seat on the off side. Arrived at the scene of the fire, each man springs to his appointed duty. When the escape is quite clear, No. 1 goes to the fire, No. 3 is seen busy with the gear, and the coachman is occupied with his horses. He removes them from the van if necessary, and is ready to ride with a message if required to do so. Moreover, the van carries five hundred feet of hose, and all the necessary gear for using a hydrant at once; so that water can be thrown on a fire directly, even without the arrival of an engine. Life-saving is, however, the special use of the escape itself; and looking at it superficially, you will say that the ladder of this machine is not nearly long enough to reach the upper windows of a high house. But if you watch the men at work, you will see that the ladder can be cleverly and quickly extended to a much greater height. You will observe that the escape is made on the telescopic principle, and on a sliding carriage; and though when not extended it only measures about 24 feet over all,--as when riding on the van,--yet when the extending gear is set to work, it can be made to reach a height of 50 feet, or more than double its usual length. This gear for extending the ladder is fitted to the levers on each side, and is easily worked by two men. The 50-feet escapes are in three lengths, the middle ladder being worked by two separate wires, and the top ladder by one wire. The van carrying the escape is specially built for the purpose; and, as we have seen, the machine can be instantaneously detached, the van being thus free for other uses if necessary. Not long after his appointment as chief officer in November, 1896, Commander Wells submitted plans which he had designed for new escapes 40 and 50 feet in length, and ladders 70 feet in length. The 40-feet escape was in two lengths, and the others in three lengths; and all of them were designed to be carried on a van of new pattern. The County Council authorized the chief officer to obtain patents for his invention, and also ordered experimental machines to be made. These proving satisfactory, it was determined to use them; and a considerable number were ordered, the horsed escape being introduced into the brigade in July, 1897. The appliance is lighter than those hitherto in use, and can be manipulated by fewer men with even greater ease. It has no shoot, or trough, down which a rescued person can be slipped; and bearing in mind that this operation may prove hazardous, unless the person have sufficient presence of mind to raise and press his arms against either side of the shoot so as to break his fall, there is no reason to regret its absence. Further, the machine will now be able to reach the scene of action so speedily, and is so amply manned, that the firemen should be able to effect a rescue without the need of a shoot. At the same time, it must be borne in mind that instruction for various patterns of fire-escapes is given at headquarters, and the shoot may be seen in use on some machines there. The new horsed escape follows a series of life-saving appliances, extending over many years. Ladders of various kinds, of course, form an important feature; but the necessity of some arrangement whereby the height of the ladders could be rapidly and efficiently extended would, no doubt, stimulate invention; and various contrivances were devised for this purpose. Further, the need for conveying the machine rapidly to the fire would lead to the ladders being placed on wheels. Without specifying the various kinds of portable ladders in use, it may be stated that the Metropolitan Brigade came to use one, consisting of a main ladder varying from 32 to 36 feet high, and furnished with a canvas trough along its length. It was doubtless a machine of this sort which was in use when Fireman Ford lost his life at the Gray's Inn Road fire in 1871. A second ladder, jointed to the first, extended the height 15 feet; while other ladders in some escapes raised the height to 60 and in some cases to 70 feet. The escape in general use by the brigade in 1889 consisted of a main ladder, having the sides strengthened by patent wire-rope, and finished at the back with a shoot or a trough of uninflammable copper-wire netting. A fly-ladder lay along the main ladder, to which it was jointed, and was raised, when needed, by levers and ropes. A third ladder, known as the "first floor," which could be jointed to the fly-ladder, was placed under the main ladder; while a fourth could be added, bringing the height up to 60 feet. The fly-ladder could also be instantly detached for separate use if required. The carriage on which this arrangement of ladders was mounted was comparatively light, and was fitted with springs and high wheels, and two men could move it anywhere. As we have said, drill for various descriptions of escapes is practised at headquarters; but the general instructions are that, when running the machine, two men are to be "on the levers," to prevent accident. There used to be a society to organize the use of fire-escapes. It was called the Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire, and was first established in 1836. About seven years later its object was more fully attained, when it was reorganized, and had six escape-stations in the metropolis. In 1866, it possessed no fewer than eighty-five stations, while many lives had been saved, and numerous fires had been attended. But next year, a municipal fire-brigade having been established, the society handed over its works, and practically made a present of all its plant to the Metropolitan Board of Works, the Fire-Brigade Act having been passed in 1865. And so once more municipal organization took up and developed what voluntary effort had begun. Various devices have also been employed to afford escape from the interior of the building. Perhaps the simplest, and yet one of the most effectual, consists of a rope ladder fastened permanently to the window-sill, and rolled up near it; or a single cord may be used, knotted at points about a foot apart all along its length. Like the rope ladder, the cord may be permanently fastened to the window-sill, and coiled up under the toilet-table, or in any place where it may be out of the way, and yet convenient to hand. Persons may be lowered by this rope, by fastening them at the end--as, for instance, by tying it under their arms, or placing them in a sack and fastening the rope to it--and then allowing the rope to gradually slip through the hands of the person lowering them. Better still, the rope should be bent round the corner of the window-sill, or round the corner of a bed-post, when the friction on the hands will not be so great, and the gradual descent will be safe-guarded. In descending alone, a person will find the knots of great assistance in preventing him from slipping down too fast; and he may increase the safety of his descent by placing his feet on the wall as he moves his grip, one hand after the other, on the rope; this arrangement prevents the friction on the hands, which hurried sliding might cause, with its attendant danger of falling. Permanent fire-escapes are provided in large buildings by means of iron ladders or staircases at the back or sides of the structure, with balconies at each story; while poles having baskets attached, ropes with weights so that they may be thrown into windows, and various contrivances and combinations of ladders, baskets, nets and ropes, etc., have all been recommended or brought into use during a long course of years. They are designed to afford escape, either from within, or from without, the burning building; several, however, being for private installation. [Illustration: STERN OF YARROW'S FIRE-LAUNCH.] Returning, then, to the public improvements in fire extinction, a new and remarkable floating fire-engine was designed about the year 1898, by Messrs. Yarrow & Co. of Poplar, in conjunction with Commander Wells, chief of the London Brigade. It was intended for use in very shallow water. The plan was cleverly based on the lines of the _Heron_ type of shallow-draught gunboats constructed for use on tropical rivers. Six of these vessels were built by Messrs. Yarrow for the Admiralty, and two went to the Niger and four to China. The new fire-float design provided for twin-screw propellers fitted in raised pipes, or inverted tunnels, to ensure very light draught combined with high speed, and the consequent power of manoeuvring quickly quite near to the shore. The difficulty of working fire-floats close to the shore in all states of the tide had long troubled the London Brigade, and rendered the best type of vessel for this purpose a matter of much concern. Originally, vessels of comparatively large size were used, containing machinery both for throwing water and for propelling the boat. These vessels, however, were costly to maintain, and could not be effectively used at all states of the tide. Captain Shaw, therefore, separated the fire-engine from the propelling power, using tug-boats which would float in a few feet of water to haul along fire-engine rafts, which could be used quite near to the scene of the fire. The last of the large vessels disappeared from the brigade in 1890, and the river-service consisted of tugs and floats, the fire-engines or rafts being familiarly called by the latter name. This system, however, did not prove satisfactory; for, as the chief engineer pointed out, just before the appointment of Commander Wells, tugs being necessary to haul the floats, double the number of river-craft were employed, and there was a consequent increase in cost of maintenance. He suggested that both the propelling and the fire-engine machinery should be united on one vessel, but that it should be of light draught. The new chief officer was consulted. Now, Commander Wells, who was then thirty-seven years of age, had enjoyed a long experience in the navy; and, moreover, had been used to torpedo-boats, which of course are comparatively light craft. Entering the Service in 1873, he was second in command of a torpedo-boat destroyer in the Egyptian campaign of 1882, and for three years was second in command of the Torpedo School at Devonport. At the time of his election to the chief officer's post of the London Fire-Brigade, he was senior officer of a torpedo-boat squadron. He had also been second in command of two battleships, and had partly organized the London Naval Exhibition of 1891. He was, therefore, likely to be thoroughly conversant with all the latest types of light-draught navy vessels. He pointed out the great disparity existing between the brigade's tugs, which required nine feet of water, and the fire-engine floats, which needed only about two feet; and he prepared a rough plan of a craft on the model of shallow-draught gunboats. The chief engineer approving the plan, a design was prepared by Messrs. Yarrow & Co., in conjunction with Commander Wells. This design, or one similar to it, is probably destined to revolutionize river fire-engine service. The class of material used would be the same as that employed for building light-draught vessels for her Majesty's Government; and the method of raising the steam would be, of course, by Yarrow's water tube-boilers, having straight tubes, and raising steam from cold water in fifteen minutes. The design shows a vessel about 100 feet long by 18 feet beam, and the draught only about 1 foot 7 inches--_i.e._, five inches less than the previous floats, though containing its own propelling power. The engines, twin-screw and compound, would develop about 180 horse-power, and the speed range from nine to ten knots an hour, while no doubt much higher speed could be obtained if desired. But the main feature is the ingenious use of the propellers. How can they work in such shallow water? Briefly, the propellers operate in the two inverted tunnels, the upper parts of which are considerably above the water-line. When the propellers commence to work, the air is expelled from the tunnels, and is immediately replaced by water. Thus, a large propeller can be fully immersed, while the vessel itself is only floating in half or may be a third of the amount of water in which the propeller is actually working. The design thus combines maximum speed with minimum draught. Sooner or latter, it seems likely that some such system must be adopted for fire-floats used in protecting water-side premises; and so far the design promises to inaugurate a new era. The boilers in the design also operate the fire-engine pumps, which would probably consist of four powerful duplex "Worthingtons," each throwing five hundred gallons a minute. They discharge into a pipe connected with a large air-vessel, whence a series of branches issue with valves connected with fire-hose. But at the top of the large air-vessel stands a water-tower ladder, the two sides consisting of water-pipes. At the heads of the pipes are fitted two-inch nozzles, the direction of which can be varied by moving the water-ladders from the deck. Branch-pipes can also be led underneath the deck to either side of the vessel. Suitable accommodation is provided for the crew, and ample deck space is available for working the craft. She seems likely to give a good account of herself at any water-side fire to which she might be called. Concurrently with this new design, arrangements were made to alter the London river-stations, and to some extent remodel the river organization. Previously, there had been five river-stations; but usually between fifteen and twenty minutes elapsed after a fire-alarm was received before a tug got under way with its raft or float. This delay was partly owing to the fact that the men lived at some distance, and also that a full head of steam was not kept on the tugs. The chief officer advised that the staff and appliances of the A and B stations, and also of the C and D stations, should be amalgamated, and thus a crew could be always on board and ready to proceed to a fire at a moment's notice. There would be four river-stations--_viz._, at Battersea, Blackfriars, Rotherhithe, and Deptford--from any of which a crew with appliances could steam at once. The value of the new arrangement is obvious. Moreover, the staff of the Blackfriars post are lodged in the large new fire-engine station at Whitefriars, opened July 21st, 1897, and which is not far from the north of Blackfriars Bridge. As, therefore, the nineteenth century closes, we see the London Brigade, which has formed the model of so many others in the kingdom, straining every nerve, not only to maintain its high reputation, but to develop and to improve its elaborate organization and its numerous appliances for coping with its terrible enemy. But, in the meantime, invention has been busy in other directions. Fire is so terrible a calamity, and its risks so great, that ingenuity has been taxed to the utmost to master it in every way; and not only to extinguish it, but to prevent it from occurring at all. Of a fire, indeed, it may be said that prevention is better than cure. What think you of muslin that will not flame, of ceilings that will pour forth water by themselves, of glass bottles that break and choke the fire? What think you of chemical fire-engines, some so small as to be easily carried on a man's back? or of curtains and screens and fabrics that stubbornly refuse to yield? All kinds of contrivances, in short, have been cleverly designed. Let us now see some in operation. Have you ever seen a fire choked in a minute? and how is it done? CHAPTER XIII. CHEMICAL FIRE-ENGINES. FIRE-PROOFING, OR MUSLIN THAT WILL NOT FLAME. Which structure will be first extinguished? Imagine yourself gazing at two wooden sheds, both quite filled with combustible materials, and drenched with petroleum and tar. These are to be fired, and then one is to be extinguished by water, and the other by an extinctor, or chemical fire-engine. "Ready!" At the word, the torch is applied, and the first shed bursts into flames. It soon blazes furiously. A man steps forward, armed with a hand-pump, such as is used by the Metropolitan Fire-Brigade, and turns a jet of water upon it. Hiss! squish! A cloud of steam rises as the water dashes upon the fire, and still the stream pours on. Now the fireman pauses to refill his pump with water, and then again the jet plays on the burning pile. The fire dims down to a dull red, the flames cease to shoot upward and outward, and after about five minutes the conflagration is extinguished. Bravo! A very smart piece of work! But now the second shed is lighted, and blazes fast. Another man hurries forward. He has a steel cylinder slung on his back, and in a second, without any pumping, he directs a jet of fluid upon the fire. The flames die down, the red gives place to blackness, and, in about half the time taken by the other method, the extinctor has completely quenched the fire. How is it done? [Illustration: CHEMICAL EXTINCTOR.] [Illustration: SECTION OF CHEMICAL FIRE-ENGINE.] Within the steel cylinder is suspended a bottle charged with a powerful acid, probably sulphuric acid--but the secrets of patents must not be revealed. The bottle can be instantaneously broken by a lever or weight, and the acid is precipitated into the cylinder, which is filled with an alkaline fluid--perhaps a solution of carbonate of soda. The mixture of these fluids rapidly produces large quantities of carbonic acid gas, which is a great enemy to fire. Moreover, water absorbs the gas easily; and when generated in the cylinder, the expansion of the gas causes a propelling power, varying from seventy to a hundred pounds per square inch. Consequently, a jet of water propelled by the gas shoots out a distance varying from thirty to fifty feet; and when it reaches the fire, the heat evaporates the water, and liberates the gas held in solution, which chokes the fire. This is the general principle of most chemical fire-engines. There are several varieties; but they are, no doubt, chiefly based on the rapid evolution of carbonic acid gas. If you find the principle difficult to understand, imagine a soda-water bottle bursting, or the contents spurting forth if the cork be suddenly removed, and you will not be so surprised at the stream jetting forth from an extinctor. Soda-water is, of course, aërated by being charged with carbonic acid gas. These chemical extinctors are of all sizes; they range from small bottles upward, to large double-tank machines, and drawn by horses. The small bottles contain the necessary materials, so arranged that, when the bottle is thrown down, the gas is generated and the fire choked. Both Germany and the United States make large use of chemical fire-engines, some of which are capable of giving a pressure of a hundred and forty pounds, and perhaps more, to the square inch. Cases filled with sulphur, saltpetre, and other chemicals are sometimes used, which, being ignited, send forth a choking vapour, stifling all fire in a confined space; again, other contrivances discharge ammoniacal gases and hydrochloric acid. Extinctors, or fire-annihilators, have been invented or introduced by several persons. Mr. T. Phillips was responsible for one in 1849, which generated steam and carbonic acid. Two or three persons seem to have had a hand in an apparatus developed by Mr. W. B. Dick about twenty years later, and patented April, 1869. This consisted of an iron cylinder furnished with tartaric acid, bicarbonate of soda and water, and generating the carbonic acid gas. The first inventor of this appliance was a Dr. Carlier, who suggested it, or something like it, a few years previously. About the same time, Mr. James Sinclair introduced his chemical appliance, the firm now being the Harden Star, Lewis, & Sinclair Company. British fire-brigades would not touch the extinctors; but the Americans seized upon them rapidly, and manufactured them largely. At the present time, it is said that there is scarcely a fire-brigade in the States that does not use a chemical fire-engine in some shape or form. In Britain, the extinctor, either as the hand-grenade bottle or portable cylinder, which latter contains about eight gallons, is largely used by private persons, and is kept in many large establishments. Several provincial fire-brigades have also adopted the appliances in some form or other; but, as a rule, the chemical fire-engine has not been used by the public fire-brigades of the country. Perhaps one reason is, that it is regarded as more suitable for private use, and not as superior to the powerful steam-engines, hydrants, etc., operated so efficiently by trained firemen. It will be seen that the claims for chemical fire-engines are twofold in character: first, that they themselves supply propelling power for the fluid without pumps--a great consideration for private persons; and, secondly, that the liquid thrown has far greater fire-quenching powers than water. To the first of these claims, it is possible that fire-brigades, with their numerous hydrants and powerful steam-engines, would pay but little regard; while as to the second claim, only accomplished chemists and impartially-minded persons of wide and varied experience can form a fully-reliable opinion. At the time of the great Cripplegate fire in London, November, 1897, Americans were very keen in their criticism, much of which was unjust and inaccurate; but one of their points was the absence of chemical appliances in the London Brigade. It is, however, fairly open to argument whether the use of such apparatus would have mended matters. Even Americans have by no means abolished the steam fire-engine; and they have sometimes found that the fire has obtained so firm a hold, that the best they could do was to prevent the flames from spreading. When quantities of inflammable substances are crowded in high and comparatively frail buildings in narrow thoroughfares, you have all the elements of serious fires; and when once fairly started, it remains to be proved whether a gas-propelled and gas-laden stream would be more efficient than powerful and copious jets of water. The difficulty would appear to be rather that of directly and quickly reaching the seat of the fire, than of the more or less fire-quenching properties of rival fluids. From the evidence of Mr. John F. Dane at the Cripplegate Fire Enquiry, we may gain some idea why the brigade dislike the chemical fire-engine. He had been twenty-eight years in the brigade--though he had then left the service, and was a consulting fire engineer--but at one fire, where he had found a dense smoke, an hour was occupied in tracing the fire to its source, it being worked upon by hand-buckets. Had he used a chemical fire-engine, it would, no doubt, have been played into the dense smoke, and damaged a thousand pounds' worth of goods, while, after having exhausted the charge, they would not have found the fire subdued. Chemical fire-engines could not be trusted to discharge where wanted. Many modern structures at the Cripplegate fire were comparatively frail. Iron girders and stone were, no doubt, largely used, and you would naturally think that iron would be fireproof; but, as a matter of fact, iron may be worse than wood. That is, cast-iron is very liable to split, if suddenly heated or cooled; and a jet of water playing on a hot cast-iron girder would most likely cause it to collapse at once, and bring down everything it supported in a terrible ruin. The truth is, therefore, that light iron and stone structures are not nearly so fireproof as they might appear. The difficulty of building fireproof structures has not yet been fully solved, though many suggestions to that end have been made. Wood soaked in a strong solution of tungstate or silicate of soda is rendered uninflammable and nearly incombustible. Silicate of soda is, perhaps, the best. It fuses in the heat, and forms a glaze over the wood, preventing the oxygen in the air from reaching it. But intense heat will overcome it. Whichcord's plan of fire-proofing encases metal girders in blocks of fire-clay; other systems make great use of concrete. Walls, of course, should be built of brick or stone; while double iron doors are of great value, as in the case of the warehouses burning at the docks on January 1st, 1866. At the enquiry into the Cripplegate fire of 1897, Mr. Hatchett Smith, F.R.I.B.A., declared that the well-holes or lighting-areas in the warehouses involved, were a source of danger as constructed, and he recommended that such lighting-areas should be confined by party walls, and sealed with rolled plate-glass or pavement-lights. Windows facing the street should be glazed with double sashes, and external walls should be built with a hollow space of about two inches between them and their plastering, with an automatic water-sprinkler at the top of the hollow space. Such a plan of construction would, he contended, confine the fire to the apartment in which it originated, though it would not extinguish the fire in that room. The flooring Mr. Smith seemed to take for granted would be of concrete and fireproof. Among other fire precautions, the introduction of the electric light in place of gas may operate as a valuable precautionary measure, especially in theatres and public places; while a strong iron curtain, to be quickly dropped down between the stage and the auditorium, is also a most valuable precaution. But all such measures may be largely neutralized by the inflammable contents of the buildings. Some manufactures are remarkably dangerous in this respect, and the extensive storage of certain goods renders even spontaneous combustion probable. Thus, if a well-built fireproof structure contain large quantities of combustible materials, and these burn furiously, the heat evolved may be so great as to conquer almost everything in the building. Indeed, the heat in huge fires is sufficient to melt iron. Nevertheless, the liability to fire and its destructiveness is much decreased by wise precautionary measures in building, the idea underlying them being that walls, floorings, doors, or what not should be so made as to localize the fire to the apartment in which it originated. As with buildings, so with clothing. Here is a piece of muslin. Light it: it will not flame; it slowly smoulders. But even as the problem of building completely fireproof structures has not been solved, so also the question of fireproof fabrics has not been completely answered. Progress, however, has been made in that direction. Methods have been adopted whereby the flaming of fabrics can be prevented, and their burning reduced to smouldering. A solution of tungstate of soda is, perhaps, one of the best chemicals to use for this purpose, for it is believed not to injure the fibre; but for articles of clothing, borax is better suited, as it does not injure the appearance of the clothes, and it is very effectual in its operation, though it weakens the fibre. Alum, common salt, and sulphate of soda will also diminish or entirely prevent flaming; but they tend to weaken the fibre. A simple experiment illustrates the principle. Any boy who has made fireworks, or dabbled in chemistry, knows that paper--one of the most inflammable of substances--after being soaked in a solution of saltpetre, will not flame, but smoulders quickly at the touch of fire; hence the name touch-paper, which is used to ignite fireworks. Some of these salts, then, prevent the fabric from flaming, and also reduce the burning to slow smouldering, the explanation being apparently this,--when the fabric is dipped in solutions of certain salts, tiny crystals are deposited among the fibres on drying, and the inflammability is diminished; but the effect of the salt upon the fabric has to be considered, and some, such as sulphate of ammonia, will decompose when the goods are ironed with a hot iron. This necessary operation of the laundry, however, does not affect tungstate of soda; and all the dresses of a household could be rendered non-inflammable and largely incombustible by dipping them in a solution of this salt. The proportions would be about one pound of the tungstate to a couple of gallons of water. For starched goods, the best way to use the tungstate would be to add one part of it to three parts of the starch, and use the compound in the ordinary manner. Various methods have been adopted for fire-proofing wood, the strong solution of silicate of soda being one of the best. Asbestos paint is also useful, if it does not peel off, a little trick to which it seems addicted. By another method, the wood is soaked for three hours in a mixture of alum, sulphate of zinc, potash, and manganic oxide, with water and a small quantity of sulphuric acid. But while the inflammability of wood may be removed, it is questionable if it can be rendered entirely incombustible. In short, the problem of absolutely preventing fires by rendering substances perfectly fireproof has yet to be solved, if, indeed, it is capable of solution. But if fire cannot be entirely prevented, could not some method be devised of automatically quenching the flames directly they break forth? Such a method would appear like the prerogative of the good genii of a fairy fable, and beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. But science and human ingenuity which tell so many true "fairy tales" have made some approach to this also. The device is known popularly as "sprinklers," and is contrived somewhat in this way:-- Lines of water-pipes are conducted along the ceilings of the building, and are connected with the water supply through a large tank on the roof. To these pipes, the sprinklers are attached at distances of about ten feet. They are, in some cases, jointed with a soft metal, which melts at a temperature of about 160 degrees; the valve then falls, and the water is sprayed forth into the apartment. Other sprinklers are said to act by a thread, which, it is claimed, will burn when the heat reaches a certain temperature and release the water. The essential idea, therefore, is that the heat of the fire shall automatically set free the water to quench it. Such great importance is attached to the use of sprinklers by some insurance-offices, that they offer a large reduction of premiums to those employing them. Again, other sprinklers are not automatic, but require to be set in operation by hand. Nevertheless, in spite of all these varied precautions, it is unfortunately a platitude to say that fires do occur; but the point to be noted is, that but for these efforts, they would probably be greater in number and more destructive in their results. Even when the flames are raging in fury, much may be done by courageous and well-trained men to preserve goods from injury; and, indeed, much is done by a body of men whose work is perhaps too little known. They pluck goods, as it were, out of the very jaws of the fire, and often while the flames are burning above them. Would you like to know them, and see them at work? Behold, then, the black helmets and the scarlet cars of the London Salvage Corps. CHAPTER XIV. THE WORK OF THE LONDON SALVAGE CORPS. THE GREAT CRIPPLEGATE FIRE. "Where is the fire?" "City, sir; warehouses well alight." "Off, and away!" The horses are harnessed to the scarlet car as quickly as though it were a fire-engine; the crew of ten men seize their helmets and axes from the wall beside the car, and mount to their places with their officers; the coachman shakes the reins; and away dashes the salvage-corps trap to the scene of action. The wheels are broad and strong; they do not skid or stick at trifles; the massy steel chains of the harness shine and glitter with burnishing, and might do credit to the Horse Artillery; the stout leather helmets and sturdy little hand-axes of the men look as fit for service as hand and mind can make them. Everything was in its right place; everything was ready for action; and at the word of command the men were on the spot, and fully equipped in a twinkling. The call came from the fire-brigade. The brigade pass on all their calls to the salvage corps, and the chiefs of the corps have to use their discretion as to the force they shall send. The public do not as a rule summon the salvage corps. The public summon the fire-brigade, and away rush men and appliances to extinguish the flames and to save life. The primary duty of the salvage corps is to save goods. There is telephonic connection between the brigade and the corps, and the two bodies work together with the utmost cordiality. We will suppose the present call has come from a big City fire. The chief has to decide at once upon his mode of action. No two fires are exactly alike, and saving goods from the flames is something like warfare with savages--you never know what is likely to happen; so he has to take in the circumstances of the case at a glance, and shape his course accordingly. Should the occasion require a stronger force, he sends back a message by the coachman of the car; and in his evidence concerning the great Cripplegate fire, Major Charles J. Fox, the chief officer of the salvage corps, stated that he had seventy men at work at that memorable conflagration. But see, here is the fire! Streams of water are being poured on to the flames, and the policemen have hard work to keep back the excited crowd. They give way for the scarlet car, and the salvage men have arrived at the scene of action. Entrance may have to be forced to parts of the burning building, and doors and windows broken open for this purpose. Crash! crash! The axes are at work. And a minute more the men step within amid the smoke. The firemen may be at work on another floor, and the water to quench the fire may be pouring downstairs in a stream. The noises are often extraordinary. There is not only the rush and roar of the flames, the splashing and gurgling of the water, but the falling of goods, furniture, and may be even parts of the structure itself. Walls, girders, ceilings may fall, ruins clatter about your ears, clouds of smoke suffocate you, tongues of flame scorch your face; but if you are a salvage man, in and out of the building you go, while with your brave brethren of the corps you spread out the strong rubber tarpaulins you have brought with you in your trap, and cover up such goods as you find, to preserve them from damage. Under these stout coverlets, heaps of commodities may lie quite safe from injury from water and smoke. Overhead you still hear terrible noises. Safes and tanks tumble and clatter with dreadful din; part of the structure itself, or some heavy piece of furniture, falls to the ground; dense volumes of water poured into the windows rain through on to your devoted head. But you stick to your post, preserving such goods as you can in the manner that the chief may direct. May be you have to assist in conveying goods out of reach of the hungry fire, and your training has taught you how to handle efficiently certain classes of goods. Sometimes quantities of water collect in the basement, doing much damage; and down there, splash, splash, you go, to open drains, or find some means of setting the water free. On occasion, the men of the salvage corps find themselves in desperate straits. At the Cripplegate fire, one of the corps discovered the staircase in flames, and his retreat quite cut off. With praiseworthy promptitude, he knotted some ladies' mantles together into a rope, and by this means escaped from a second-story window to the road below. On another occasion, Major Fox himself, the chief of the corps, was rather badly hurt on the hip, when making his way about a burning building at a fire in the Borough. The probability of accident is only too great, and it was no child's play in training or in practice which enabled the corps to attain such proficiency as to carry off a handsome silver challenge cup at an International Fire Tournament at the Agricultural Hall in the summer of 1895. The duties of the salvage corps do not end even when the fire is extinguished. They remain in possession of the premises until the fire-insurance claims are satisfactorily arranged. They do not, however, know which office is paying the particular claims, and all offices unite in supporting the corps. It is, in fact, their own institution, though established under Act of Parliament; and it is not, therefore, like the London Fire-Brigade, a municipal service. When the brigade was handed over to the Metropolitan Board of Works by the Act of 1865, provision was made for the establishment of a salvage corps, to be supported by the Fire-Insurance Companies, and to co-operate with the brigade. The corps has now five stations, the headquarters--where the chief officer, Major Fox, resides--being at Watling Street in the City. The eastern station is at Commercial Road, Whitechapel; the southern, at Southwark; the northern, at Islington; and the western, at Shaftesbury Avenue. The force consists of about a hundred men. Their uniform somewhat resembles that of the fire-brigade, being of serviceable dark blue cloth, but with helmets of black leather instead of brass. They are nearly all ex-navy men, excepting the coachmen, some of whom have seen service in the army; indeed, candidates now come from the royal navy direct, but receive a special training for their duties, such as in the handling of certain classes of goods. Their ranks are divided into first, second, and third-class men, with coachmen, and foremen, five superintendents, and one chief officer. Their work lies largely outside the public eye. They labour, so to speak, under the fire; and it is difficult to estimate the immense quantity of goods they save from damage during the course of the year. Thousands of pounds' worth were saved at the great Cripplegate fire alone in November, 1897. That huge conflagration, which was one of the largest in London since the Great Fire of 1666, may well serve to illustrate the work of the corps. The alarm was raised shortly before one o'clock mid-day on November 19th, and an engine from Whitecross Street was speedily on the spot. As usual, the salvage corps received their call from the brigade; and in his evidence at the subsequent enquiry at the Guildhall, Major Fox stated he received the call at headquarters from the Watling Street fire-station, a warehouse being alight in Hamsell Street. He turned out the trap, and with the superintendent and ten men hurried to the fire. He also ordered other traps to be sent on from the other four stations of the corps, and left the station at two minutes past one. The Watling Street fire-engine had preceded him; and when he turned the corner of Jewin Street out of Aldersgate Street, he saw "a bright cone of fire with a sort of tufted top." It was very bright, and he was struck by the absence of smoke. He thought the roof of one of the warehouses had gone, and the flames had got through. Perceiving the fire was likely to be a big affair, he at once started a coachman back to Watling Street with the expressive instructions to "send everything." The coachman returned at thirteen minutes past one, so the chief and his party must have arrived at the fire about five minutes past one; that is, they reached the scene of action in three minutes. The major and superintendent walked down Hamsell Street, and found upper floors "well alight," and the fire burning downward as well. It was, in fact, very fierce; so fierce, indeed, that he remarked to his companion what a late call they had received. The firemen were getting to work, and he himself proceeded with his salvage operations. Believing that some of the buildings were irrevocably doomed, he did not send his men into these, for the sufficient reason that he could not see how he could get the men out again; but they got to work in other buildings in Hamsell Street and Well Street, though the fire was spreading very rapidly. Many windows were open, which was a material source of danger, causing, of course, a draught for the fire. They shut some of the windows, and removed piles of goods from the glass, so that the buildings might resist the flames as long as possible. Eventually, the staff of men, now increased to seventy in number, cleared out a large quantity of goods, and stacked them on a piece of vacant ground near Australian Avenue. In spite of the heat and smoke and flame, in spite of falling tanks and safes and walls, the men worked splendidly, and were able to save an immense quantity of property. Meantime, the firemen had been working hard. On arrival, they found the fire spreading with remarkable rapidity, and the telephone summoned more and more assistance. Commander Wells was at St. Bartholomew's Hospital examining the fire appliances when he was informed of the outbreak. He left at once, and reached Jewin Street about a quarter past one. Superintendent Dowell was with him; and on entering the street, they could see from the smoke that the fire was large, and that both Hamsell Street and Well Street were impassable, as flames even then were leaping across both the streets. Steamers, escapes, and manuals hurried up from all quarters, until about fifty steamers were playing on the flames. Early in the afternoon, the girls employed in a mantle warehouse hastened to the roof in great excitement, and escaped by an adjoining building. A staff of men soon arrived from the Gas Company's offices; but the falls of ruins were already so numerous and so dangerous, that they were not able to work effectually. In fact, the whole of Hamsell Street was before long in flames; and in spite of all efforts, the fire spread to Redcross Street, Jewin Crescent, Jewin Street, and Well Street. The brigade had arrived with their usual promptitude; but before their appliances could bring any considerable power to bear, the conflagration was extending fast and fiercely. The thoroughfares were narrow, the buildings high, and the contents of a very inflammable nature, such as stationery, fancy goods, celluloid articles (celluloid being one of the most inflammable substances known), feathers, silks, etc., while a strong breeze wafted burning fragments hither and thither. Windows soon cracked and broke, the fire itself thus creating or increasing the draught; the iron girders yielded to the intense heat, the interiors collapsed, and the flames raged triumphantly. In Jewin Crescent, the firemen worked nearly knee-deep in water, and again and again ruined portions of masonry crashed into the roadway. Through the afternoon, engines continued to hurry up, until at five o'clock the maximum number of about fifty was reached. The end of Jewin Street resembled an immense furnace, while the bare walls of the premises already burnt out stood gaunt and empty behind, and portions of their masonry continued to fall. [Illustration] Firemen were posted on surrounding roofs and on fire-escape ladders, pouring immense quantities of water on the fire, while others were working hard to prevent the flames from spreading. All around, thousands of spectators were massed, pressing as near as they could. They responded readily, however, to the efforts of the police, and order was well maintained. This was the critical period of the fire. It still seemed spreading; in fact, it appeared as though there were half a dozen outbreaks at once. But after six, the efforts of the firemen were successful in preventing it from spreading farther. As darkness fell, huge flames seemed to spurt upward from the earth, presenting a strikingly weird appearance; they were caused by the burning gas which the workmen had not been able to cut off. Crash succeeded crash every few minutes, as tons of masonry fell; while in Well Street, at one period a huge warehouse, towering high, seemed wrapped in immense flame from basement to roof. An accident occurred by Bradford Avenue. Some firemen, throwing water on the raging fire, were suddenly surprised by a terrible outburst from beneath them, and it was seen that the floors below were in flames. To the excited spectators it seemed for a moment as though the men must perish; but a fire-escape was pitched for them, and amid tremendous cheering the scorched and half-suffocated men slid down it in safety. Cripplegate Church, too, suffered a narrow escape, even as it did in the Great Fire of 1666. On both occasions, sparks set fire to the roof, the oak rafters on this occasion being ignited. But the special efforts made by the firemen to save it were happily crowned by success, though it sustained some damage. Also Mr. Nein, one of the churchwardens, assisted by Mr. Morvell and Mr. Capper, posted on the roof, worked hard with buckets to quench the flames. It was late at night before the official "stop" message was circulated, and eight o'clock next morning before the last engine left. It was found that the area affected by the fire covered four and a half acres, two and a half being burnt out; and no fewer than a hundred and six premises were involved. Fifty-six buildings were absolutely destroyed, and fifty others burnt out or damaged. Seventeen streets were affected; but happily no lives were lost, though several firemen were burnt somewhat severely. The total loss was estimated at two millions sterling, the insurance loss being put at about half that amount. The verdict, on the termination of the enquiry at the Guildhall on January 12th, 1898, attributed the conflagration to the wilful ignition of goods by some one unknown. The quantity of water used at this fire was enormous. Mr. Ernest Collins, engineer to the New River Water Company, in whose district the conflagration took place, said that, up to the time when the "stop" message was received, the total reached to about five million gallons. No wonder that the firemen were working knee-deep in Jewin Street. The five million gallons would, he testified, give a depth of about five feet over the whole area. But, further, a large quantity was used for a week or so afterwards, until the conflagration was completely subdued. In addition to the engines, it must be remembered that there were fifty hydrants in the neighbourhood. These hydrants can, of course, be brought into use without the turncock; but, as a matter of fact, that official arrived at two minutes past one, the same time as the first engine; while the fire was dated in the company's return as only breaking out at four minutes to one, and the brigade report their call at two minutes to one. The water used came from the company's reservoir in Claremont Square, Islington. But this receptacle only holds three and a half million gallons when full. It is, however, connected with another reservoir at Highgate having a capacity of fifteen million gallons, and with yet another at Crouch Hill having when full twelve million gallons. As a matter of fact, these two reservoirs held twenty-five million gallons between them on the day of the fire, and both were brought into requisition, as well as the Islington reservoir. The drain was, however, enormous. In the course of the first hour, the water in the Islington reservoir actually fell four feet. It never fell lower, however; for instructions were telegraphed to the authorities at other reservoirs to send on more water, and the supply was satisfactorily maintained,--a striking contrast, indeed, to the Great Fire of 1666, when the New River water-pipes were dry! It was about nine o'clock when the chief officer of the salvage corps felt able to leave. During the eight hours he had been on duty, his men had saved goods to the value of many thousands of pounds. He had known to some extent the class of goods he would meet with, for the inspectors of the corps make reports from time to time as to the commodities stored in various City warehouses, and he is therefore to some extent prepared. On the following day, the 20th, the corps were occupied in pulling down the tottering walls of the burned-out warehouses which were in a dangerous condition. This great Cripplegate fire aroused a good deal of attention in the American papers, and certain discussion also arose in England as to water-towers and chemical fire-engines. America is very proud of its well-furnished firemen, and not without cause. Several cities in the States are, indeed, famous for their well-organized and well-equipped fire departments. Let us, then, cross the Atlantic, and see something of the men and their methods in active operation. We shall find much to interest and to inform us. CHAPTER XV. ACROSS THE WATER. "How can the firemen climb up there?" The question may well be asked; for the tall New York houses seem to reach to the sky. "Ordinary ladders won't do." "I guess not," replies the New Yorker. "Why, as far back as 1885, fourteen out of every hundred buildings were too high to be scaled that way. We build tall here." "Then, how about the fire-escape?" asks the Englishman. "Wa'll, iron ladders or steps are permanently fixed to some of the top windows. But the firemen bring their hook-and-ladder; that is a most valuable contrivance." Pursuing his enquiries, the Englishman would find that a hook-and-ladder consisted, briefly, of a strong pole, with steps projecting on either side, and a long and stout hook at the top. The fireman can crash this hook through a window, and hang the pole firmly over the window-sill; the hook, of course, plunging right through into the room. Climbing up this pole, with another length in his hand, the fireman can hang the second length into the window next above, and so on, up to the very top of the building. He has also a hook in his belt, which he can fasten to the ladder, when necessary, to steady and secure himself. In fact, a well-trained and courageous fireman can climb up the tallest structures by these appliances. These hooked poles are made of various lengths, ranging from about 10 to 20 feet and more. Some single ladders and extensions reach to over 80 feet; but it will be seen at once that a succession of, say, ten- or twelve-feet hooked-pole ladders can be easily handled to reach from floor to floor, and that, used by an active and well-trained fireman, it can become a most important appliance for saving life. St. Louis appears to have been the pioneer city in the use of this apparatus; but New York and other corporations have followed suit. Since 1883 every candidate for the New York Fire Department must undergo a course of instruction in the use of this and other appliances, and the thorough learning in this work renders them better men for their ordinary duties. The ladders are wheeled to the fire on a truck 50 feet long, and called a "hook-and-ladder truck." It carries ladders of different lengths, and also conveys pickaxes, shovels, battering-rams, fire-extinguishers, life-lines, etc., and tools for pushing open heavy doors. The majority of the ladders are placed on rollers, and can be removed at once without disturbing those resting above them. [Illustration: AMERICAN FIRE-LADDERS.] To some extent, therefore, we might say that the hook-and-ladder truck with its various appliances answers to the horsed escape of the London Brigade; but, while London firemen make use of the escape as a point of vantage whence they can discharge water on the fire, the Americans largely adopt the water-tower. Indeed, they appear to regard this apparatus as indispensable for high business buildings. Briefly, it consists of lengths of pipe, which can be quickly jointed together, the lengths being carried on a van, and varying from about 30 to 50 feet. When jointed, they can rapidly be raised to an upright position, the topmost length having a flexible pipe and nozzle for the discharge of the jet of water. This pipe can be turned in any direction by means of a wire rope descending below, and the tower can be revolved by simple apparatus-gearing. The whole appliance is so arranged that it can be controlled by one man when in action. The water is supplied by a hose fastened to the bottom of the tower. [Illustration: AMERICAN FIRE-LADDERS.] As in England, hydrants are largely used in the States, and the steam fire-engine is also, of course, a very important appliance. The average American steam fire-engine generally weighs about three tons, with water in boiler and men in their seats on the machine. The water in the boiler is kept at steaming-point by a pipe full of steam passing through it, or boiling water is supplied from a stationary boiler, so that on arriving at a fire a working-pressure is obtained. The steam-heating pipe, however, is capable of being instantly disconnected at the sound of the fire-alarm. The alarm, moreover, is so arranged that the first beat of the gong draws a bolt fastening the horse's halter to the stall. The animals rush to their posts, the firemen slide down poles from the upper stories to the lower, through holes in the floors made for the purpose, and, every one smartly doing his duty, the horses are harnessed, and the engine or apparatus-van is fully ready to start through the open doors before the gong has finished striking--unless it be a very brief alarm. Four snaps harness the horses. The animals stand on the ground-floor by the sidewalls, facing the wheels of the engines and trucks. The harness is hung over the pole-shaft exactly above the place where the horses will stand, the traces being fastened to the truck; the hinged collar is snapped round the animal's neck, the shaft-chain is fastened with a snap, and two snaps fix the reins. One shake of the reins by the coachman detaches the harness from the suspenders, and away fly the horses. Arriving at the fire, the engine is attached to the nearest hydrant, and the delivery-hose is led off to the burning building. The hydrant is probably of the upright kind, standing up above the roadway level, though some cities use the hydrant below-ground, and covered with an iron plate. But, the water obtained and the engine ready, the method of attacking the fire at close quarters and inside the edifice is adopted if practicable; and, to accomplish this purpose, the firemen have to fight through blinding and suffocating smoke. For hours they may struggle, well-nigh choked and scorched, though scarce a flash of flame may be visible. To reach the seat of fire, doors are broken down, and even iron shutters opened; while hose is led upstairs, or down into cellars, in order to quench the flames at their source. Sometimes, however, on arrival at a fire, the chiefs realize that the conflagration has gained such hold that the firemen's efforts will be most usefully directed to prevent it from spreading. When the water has done its work, the fireman can usually turn it off by a relief-valve without recourse to the engineer, the complete control thus gained tending to prevent unnecessary damage by water. The American fire-brigades--or departments, as they are called--may be broadly divided into two classes: those of great cities, consisting of a paid staff of officers and men, devoting all their time to the service; and, secondly, those of smaller places, consisting of a staff of unpaid volunteers, pursuing their usual daily avocations, but agreeing to respond to fire-alarms;--these men, though unpaid, are generally exempt from service as jurymen and militiamen, and sometimes are permitted a slight abatement of taxation. Some brigades, again, consist partly of fully-paid firemen, and partly of volunteers. Many of these organizations are not only charged with the extinguishment of fires, but also with the regulation of the storage and sale of combustibles, and in some cities with the supervision of building construction. It is claimed that this arrangement has led to a much more economical and efficient administration of this department; and undoubtedly the fire-brigade has a very lively interest in the security and stability of buildings. The firemen's efforts to improve them rank as valuable precautions and preventives of fire. It is also claimed that some of the American fire departments, as, for instance, that of New York, are among the best in the world, and their engines superior in size and capacity and greater in number than those of other lands. On the other hand, the laws regulating the prevention of fires are said to have been less stringent than those obtaining in some other countries. The terrible fire in New York in 1835, when the loss reached three million pounds, led to the development of the fire-service and of apparatus; and prizes were offered for designs for steam fire-engines. Cincinnati appears to have taken the lead at first; but the New York Fire Department is now regarded as one of the most perfect. It is under the control of three commissioners, whom the mayor appoints; and it has substantially a military organization. The paid brigades are usually divided into companies, varying from six to twelve individuals, including both officers and men. A company may be supplied with a steam fire-engine and tender for hose, or with a chemical fire-engine, such being called "engine companies"; or with a hook-and-ladder truck and horses, called "hook-and-ladder companies"; or with hose-cart only and horses, called "hose companies." A hose-cart will carry nearly a thousand feet of hose, as well as tools for use at fires and half a dozen firemen; while some of them also convey short scaling-ladders. A water-tower is sometimes placed with an engine or a hook-and-ladder company; and, again, these two companies are occasionally brigaded together. Further, many cities are arranged into company districts, the captain of each company taking general control over all material, and the enforcement of the laws connected with his department. In some cities, the companies are combined into battalions under a chief of battalion, the highest officer commanding the whole being known as the chief of the department, or may be rejoicing in the imposing title of the Fire-Marshal. Some of the larger cities have shown their wisdom in appointing their firemen for life, including the highest officers, dismissal only taking place on misconduct; but in others the baneful practice is followed of dismissing at least the chief officials after a change in local politics--a plan which does not conduce to great efficiency and discipline. New York has abandoned this policy since 1867. In arranging sites for the fire companies, the principle pursued is to distribute small companies with different appliances over as wide an area as possible, instead of concentrating men and appliances at certain central points. By thus placing companies separately, it is believed that a larger area is served in the same time than by concentrating them together. On the occurrence of large fires, when many companies are called out, distant companies are called from various points, like reserves, to take the places of some of those in action, to meet calls that may arise in the same districts; while at some stations, or company houses, the men are divided into two sections with duplicate apparatus, so that, while one responds instantly to the first call, the second at once prepares to answer any subsequent alarm. Among the apparatus used is the jumping-sheet, designed as a last attempt to save life; circular rope nets some 15 feet in diameter being carried on the tenders and trucks in New York; while their canvas sheets have rope handles. Light chemical fire-engines are also largely used in small places and in the suburbs of large cities, the lightness of the machine being, no doubt, a great recommendation. An efficient pattern is the double-tank engine, one tank of which can be replenished while the other is being discharged. The tanks contain a mixture producing carbonic acid gas, which is a great foe to fire. The gas is absorbed by water, and as it expands causes a great pressure, sufficient to force the fluid through hose, and throw it a distance of about a hundred and fifty feet. When the water reaches the flames, the gas held in solution is liberated by the heat and chokes the fire. The mixture will not freeze, even when the temperature falls to zero; it is thus always ready. The machine is light, and contains its own propulsive force for the water; so that we cannot wonder it is widely adopted. Similar apparatus throws hydrochloric acid and ammoniacal gases, but opinions differ as to their utility; for though efficient fire-quenchers, yet a small portion only of the gas appears to be carried by the fluid and actually reaches the flames. Another piece of apparatus is a hose-hoister. For using hose on very high buildings, and also, indeed, for hoisting ladders to great heights, a simple appliance has been devised, consisting essentially of a couple of rollers in a frame; the rope, of course, runs over the rollers to hoist the hose, but the frame is shaped to adjust itself to the coping or cornice of the wall. For cities on rivers, fire-boats are in use, some being fitted with twin-screw propellers, and the crew being sometimes berthed on shore; while, lastly, as in England, the fire-alarm telegraph forms a marked feature of the American system. The alarms are fitted with keyless doors, and the telephone is also largely in use. When, however, the keyless door of the alarm is opened by its handle, a gong sounds on the spot, attracting attention, and preventing, it is intended, wrongful interference with the alarm. When the door is opened, the call for the fire company is then sent. As for the horses, they are regularly trained in New York. They are accepted on trial at the dealer's risk, and placed in a training-stable; here they grow accustomed to the startling clang of the alarm-gong, to the use of the harness, and to being driven in an engine or ladder-truck. Passing through these trials satisfactorily, the animal is promoted to service in a company; and if, after a time, a good report is forthcoming as to activity, intelligence, etc., it is bought in and placed on the regular staff. Then it is given a registered number, which is stamped in lead, and worn round the creature's neck. A record is kept of each horse, the average term of service working out at about six years. Some horses are so highly trained that they will stand in their stalls unfastened; others are simply tethered by a halter-strap, a bolt in the stall-side holding a ring in the strap. It is this bolt which is withdrawn by the first beat of the fire-alarm, instantly releasing the horse. Fire-horses often develop heart disease, as a result of the excitement of their work, and sudden deaths sometimes occur. When beginning to show signs of varying powers or of unfitness for their exciting duties, the horses are sold out of the service, being still useful for many other purposes. It was of one such that Will Carleton wrote in stirring verse. The old fire-horse was sold to a worthy milkman, and instead of the exciting business of rushing to fires came the useful occupation of taking around milk. But one day the old horse heard the exciting cry it knew so well. The rush of the fire-horses sounded near; the engine rattled past. The influence was too strong. Regardless of the milk, the old fire-horse started forward; his eye gleamed with the old excitement; no effort could restrain him, and he swept along to the fire, with the lumbering milkcart behind. Over fell the cans; the milk splashed all over the streets; but on and on tore the steed, until he actually came in front of the fire-horses, and kept the lead. Then, when he reached the fire, he halted, moped, and presently fell in the street, and died. He was game to the last. This glance at the American fire departments indicates the great excellence which many of them have reached. The remarkable efficiency is found both in organization and in appliances, and it no doubt invites comparison with British fire-brigades. If so, Britain has nothing to fear. Such comparison, if superficial, is little worth; and if exhaustive, would consider all the varying circumstances of each country, and would discover great merit on both sides. Thus, the immense height of the American edifices, no doubt, renders the hook-and-ladder a most valuable appliance; but buildings in Britain, under the present Acts, are not likely to tower so high; and the improved fire-escapes so deftly handled by British firemen yield as good, or even better, results for the work they have to do. The question of the chemical fire-engine is for experts and experience to decide; and whether, with its fumes and its gases, it is really superior under all circumstances, and whether it will ever supersede the water-engine for all purposes, the twentieth century may reveal. We conclude that absolute superiority cannot be claimed by any one country. The truth is, that the means of fighting fire have been developed to very great excellence in many places; and when we consider the high courage and efficient training of the men, and the valuable improvements and great usefulness of the various engines and appliances employed, we may truly regard this immense development as one of the wonders of the modern world. THE END. Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury. IN THE SAME SERIES. THE WORLD'S WONDERS SERIES _of Popular Books treats of the present-day wonders of Science and Art. They are well written, printed on good paper, and fully illustrated. Crown 8vo, 160 pages. Handsome Cloth Cover._ +1s. 6d.+ _each_. +MARVELS OF ANT LIFE.+ By W. F. KIRBY, F.L.S., F.E.S., of the Natural History Museum, South Kensington. +THE ROMANCE OF THE SAVINGS BANKS.+ By Arch. G. BOWIE. +THE ROMANCE OF THE POST OFFICE+: Its Inception and Wondrous Development. By Arch. G. 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