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sufficient acquaintance with its peculiarities had been learned many 

 centuries ago to enable it to be woven into cloths often of considerable 

 size. At the present day the finer grades and longest fibres are still 

 somewhat extensively used for weaving into cloths, from which drop 

 curtains for theatres, suits of clothing for firemen, and various other 

 articles, are made, among which are asbestus mail bags for railway 

 transit. So important is the matter of fire protection in theatres now 

 regarded in the leading cities of Europe and in the United States, that 

 special legislation has decided that asbestus curtains of a size sufficient 

 to completely shut off the stage from the body of the house must be a 

 part of the stage furniture. As an instance of what can be woven from 

 this material, it may be mentioned that the curtain of the Academy of 

 Music, Philadelphia, by which the stage is separated from the body of 

 the house in case of fire, is 54 feet wide and 53 feet high, and is made 

 almost entirely of pure asbestus, only 3 per cent, cotton being emplojed, 

 presumably to facilitate the weaving. 



As a protection for firemen asbestus clothing has been proved to 

 be of the greatest advantage. By its aid they have been able to enter 

 burning buildings and approach so closely to the flames as to extinguish 

 them in a much more speedy manner than by the old plan of fighting 

 them at a distance. Of a somewhat similar character are the fire 

 shields, also made of asbestus, which are placed between the burning 

 building and those who are fighting the flames, thus protecting them 

 largely both from the great heat and from the dense volumes of smoke 

 as well. As for the great heat which can be endured when clad in 

 these garments, the story of the extinguishing of the Coste gas well in 

 western Ontario only last year is quite fresh in our memories. Here 

 the huge jet of gas which issued from the stand-pipe of the well became 

 ignited, and the screw-cap which closed the pipe having received some 

 injury could not be adjusted so as to effectually close the orifice. Sev- 

 eral expedients were resorted to in order to arrange the cap successfully, 

 till at last, under promise of a heavy reward, some one, clad in an 

 asbestus suit, baldly approached the flame itself, a thing absolutely im- 

 possible without the protection thus afforded, adjusted the cap properly, 

 screwed it on and extinguished the ignited gas. But while the use of 

 this material for the purpose of clothing has steadily increased within 



