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 deg., 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.