04 J 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September 1, 1913. 



The Editor's Book Table. 



FIRES AND 1-IREFIGIlT^RS. BY JOHN KENI.ON. CHIEF OF NEW 

 York Fire Department. New York, 1913. George II. Doran Company. 

 (Cloth, 410 pages, will) 45 plates. Price $2.50 net.) 



WIIEX .T big subject is handled by a cotnpetent man a satis- 

 factory result is to be anticipated. This has undoubt- 

 edly been the case in the instance of the volume by 

 Chief Kenlon, who by his thirty years' experience as a fire- 

 fighter and in thif higher ranks of the fire department, has a 

 distinct claim to attention. 



Starting from the palmy days of Rome under the Caesars, he 

 <:onducts the reader through the decadence which marked the 

 ■dismemberment of the Roman Empire up to the renewed in- 



The decisive feature governing fire-fighting in all countries and 

 under all conditions may be summed up in the two words "water 

 supply."' This problem, according to the author, is solved by 

 the high pfessure .system, which he regards as the most up-to- 

 date plan of water supply known to science. This service in the 

 Borough of Manhattan protects approximately 2,600 acres, in 

 Brooklyn aboUt 1,000 acres, and at Coney Island about 146 acres. 

 The system was put into regular use in New York in 1908. 



The value of the work as a text book on the subjects treated 

 is enhanced by the chapters on "The New York Fire Depart- 

 ment," and "Underwriters and Salvage Corps." The appendi.x 



1 



Capacity Test, High Pressure System, New York. 



tercst in fire-fighting which marked llie last century and has 

 since been manifested. 



Prominent among the events recorded was the designing by 

 Richard Newsham in the eighteenth century of a practicable 

 hand engine from which water was pumped through a hose, 

 being thus the -predecessor of the manual engine, which in turn 

 gave way to the steam fire engine. In 1808 a Philadelphia house 

 introduced riveted leather hose, while about 1820 an English 

 firm started to manufacture rubber hose. 



Proceeding to deal with his personal recollections, Fite Chief 

 Kenlon devotes twenty pages to reminiscences of his thirty 

 years' life as a fire-fighter; also drawjag -largely upon his own 

 experiences in the chatpters, on '"Great Fires and How They 

 Were Fought," "The. Hotel Peril," and otlier branches of the 

 subject in its modern aspect. The personal character of the 

 work is throughout prominent. 



Special interest attaches to the chapter on ".'\pparatus for Fire 

 Fighting," in which the merits of the steam pump, water tower 

 and other appliances are fully discussed. .'\s to chemicals, the 

 author expresses the opinion that while useful in residential 

 districts with detached houses, they are not applicable to large 

 commercial building.s. 



contains a series of practical tests for fire engines. These in- 

 clude the friction loss in fire hose, based on tests of best 

 quality rubber-lined fire hose, as well as nozzle pressure through 

 various lengths of rul)bcr-lined hose in different w'idths. 



Nor is Chief Kenlon's survey of the subject confined to this 

 country. Special chapters deal with the conditions and past 

 liistory of the question in England, France, Germany, Austria- 

 Hungary. Switzerland and Italy. A chapter of particular value 

 deals with "Fire Control in Schools, Factories and Hospitals." 



In this brief review it is impossible to do more than indicate 

 the various points covered by the author. The w-ork should un- 

 doubtedly be in the hands of everyone in any way connected 

 with the inter-elemental struggle of fire-fighting. 



HANDBOOK OF BRITISH GUIANA. EDITED BY ALLEYNE LEECH- 

 iiian. Georgetown, 1913. Permanent E.xhibition's Committee. Price 

 2 shillings. [Cloth, 8vo, 284 pages, with 74 illustrations.] 



To make a work of reference attractive is a^^task involving 

 much constructive ability and a clo.se attention to detail. That 

 the editors and compilers of this Handbook have succeeded so 

 well is a testimony to the completeness of their work. 



British Guiana enjoys the advantage of having at its service 

 the Permanent Exhiliitions' Committee, a body which looks after 



