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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



ing the building with which the tenants are always familiar — the exits 

 towards which they would naturally hasten in case of danger, and 

 further that they allow of escape either in two directions — to the ground 

 in the central court or upward to the roof whence the tenant may cross 

 to another well and then descend. Beginning with the fact that the 

 building itself furnishes almost nothing for flames to feed upon, and 

 then noting that two routes to safety are always available and that no ten- 

 ant is ever shut off from a direct avenue of escape unless the fire is actu- 

 ally at his own threshold, where there is not enough for it to burn to as- 

 sume dangerous proportions, and the case for the open stairs as effective 



Pig. 4. On Roof ok the Vanderbilt Tenements. The pergola in the center covers 



one of the open stair wells, and at its right is a covered 



shelter for the use of tenants. 



preventives of fire or escape therefrom is rather strongly established. 

 Xo fire could gain much headway in any part of a building of this sort 

 without soon being detected and located, and prevented from spreading 

 by playing hose from the central court upon the entrance of the burn- 

 ing apartment. 



What the architect might designate as the fenestration of the periph- 

 ery, but would be more easily recognized by the layman as the window 

 treatment of the exterior, is another vital feature of the plan to secure 

 the utmost circulation of air. In the Vanderbilt group as seen in 

 Fig. 2 all exterior windows are extremely high, extending from floor to 

 ceiling, and have sashes in three sections so that two thirds of the 



