A FIRE-ESCAPE.

Evening Star, Issue 5994, 29 May 1882, Page 4

A FIRE-ESCAPE.

A trial was made on Saturday afternoon with one of Mr W. E. Carmalt's new fireescapes, which has been fitted up in Mr Philp's Railway Hotel, Rattray street. This escape is an extremely simple arrangement, and "the numerous experiments that were made with it proved in every way satisfactory. It consists of a long canvas tunnel or shoot, fastened over a circular aperture cut in a stout board ; and this board is fixed with hinges to the wall on a level with the sill of one of the passage windows in the top flat, so that when the lower sash of the window is raised the board, opening up like a trap-door, fits into the space previously occupied by the saßh. The canvas is thrown out to the ground, where the bystanders are supposed to secure the end, for the purpose of holding the shoot in a slanting direction. Everything is then ready for the people in the house to make a speedy and safe exit should their escape happen to be cut off by a fire in the lower flats, and all that is further required ia for them to pop into the tunnel and glide down, the velocity of the descent being either decreased or increased by spreading out the knees and arms or contracting them.' If it so happened that there were no persons about at the time of a fire, the inmates of the house could descend in the shoot whilst it was hanging perpendicularly from the window without incurring the slightest risk. On Saturday men shot down feet first and head first; they shot down with boys in their arms and with boys on their shoulders ; they shot clown with glasses of water in their hands; and, to show how slowly the descent might be effected, one man lit hi 3 pipe on his journey down. A female also descended, and only appeared astonished at the fact that she had managed to come down so smoothly and quickly. Desccntsweremadewhilstthe shootwas twisted, and also whilst it was bent at an angle. As soon as the merits of this new and inexpensive escape become known it will doubtless be adopted by many of the owners of large buildings wherein people are lodged at night.