FIRE-ESCAPES.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 3645, 21 January 1899, Page 3

FIRE-ESCAPES.

TRIAL OF VARIOUS CONTRIVANCES.

A crowd numbering some thousands of persons witnessed tho Fire Brigade trial and exhibition of fire escapes which took place at tho Club Hotel last night. A signal was • given at half-past seven and immediately different sections of the brigade put in an appearance, one lot with hose reels, another with the largest telescope ladder and shoot, a third with miscellaneous ladders, and eventually the Manners street contingent dashed up with their two-horse, working combine. Over anxiety was evident in. the movements of the men, who at once proceeded to attach lengths of hose to the standpipes and place their ladders m position, and some overrunning of the hose by the ladder wheels was noticeable. A block at once occurred when an attempt' was made to get the long telescope apparatus into position, the (telegraph wires hampering the. palpably unpracticed firemen in the first instance; but even after’this difficulty was surmounted, there was great delay before the shoot was got into position. The immense audience was at once delighted to see the facility with which numberless boys could hurl themselves with safety from a two-story window into the arms of a fireman waiting below, fn the meantime Mr J. Hutcheson had thrown his wire, rope ladder out of an upper window, and long before the telescope ladder was.iin position it was attached to rings at the side ot the pavement, and troops of.men and hoys were enabled to run up and down the side of the hotel with the utmost facility - . Mr R. Martin’s patent was next tried, and by its means the firemen were enabled to take several hoys down amidst cheering, although the manner in which rescuer and rescued spun .in mid-air like poultry on a roasting-jack, .tickled the risible faculties of the audience immensely. ;The disadvantage of this apparatus is the amount of strain which it puts upon the arms, the difficulty of throwing ohes-Self clear from the window at the outset, and the danger of getting the hands jninbed in the eye of the stationary rope. The trial was completed by the exhibition of a cage appliance by Mr Samuel F. Darragh. It was at once seen thnt tho large quantity bf rope essential to this apparatus rendered it virtually impracticable. When, however, it was got to work, after an infinitude ot trouble on tho port of a number of firemen, it proved highly effective, and after several of the male sex had been swung up and down, a lady (Miss Cooper) made a graceful descent, amidst cheering. On the strength of the exhibition, Mr Hutcheson’s invention must be considered facile princops. Its weakness lies in the necessity for attaching it to the pavement below; but ns young and active persons could ascend or descend the ladder easily when "hanging loose, even thnt defect is minimised. The simplicity and strength of the arrangement, is its principal recommendation. Acting-Captain Adams superin fcsnded the details of’ what must be considered a very interesting and convincing trial.