1-823.] Effects of Steam in 



r.lerory of all denominations, 2,936, or 

 nearly one-half, are pluralists. Many 

 who have four, five, and six, livings, 

 and more, hold also other offices and 

 dig:nilics. There is one of the bishops 

 ■with five livings, besides other offices. 

 One man, it seems, has thirty-four 

 livings! A. Z. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



A CIRCUMSTANCE occurred 

 lately, which has excited several 

 reflections in my mind, that appear to 

 me of great importance to the pro- 

 prietors of very extensive mannfaclo- 

 ries, and to the public in general ; and, 

 if they should strike you in the same 

 light, I am persuaded that you will 

 give them a place in your Magazine. 



I was sitting,^ about eleven o'clock 

 at night, in a room fronting the street, 

 when one of my family ran down in 

 great agitation, and told me that the 

 chimney of the opposite house was on 

 fire. I ran to the window, and saw 

 torrents of flame and sparks issuing 

 from the chimney that belonged to a 

 steam-engine then at work. I lost no 

 time in running over to communicate 

 the intelligence to my neighbour, who 

 went instantly to the works ; and as 1 

 knew that, from the number of people 

 there employed, no farther assistance 

 was wanting on my part, I ran back, 

 to calm the apprehensions of my 

 family. I had scarcely returned to 

 my room, when I saw evidently that 

 there was no occasion of alarm ; and a 

 servant, who had seen the whole above 

 stairs, told me that, about the time of 

 my coming in, she saw a large volume, 

 like a whitish cloud, coming out of the 

 chimney ; and, from that time, not a 

 spark was seen. The next morning 1 

 called on my neighbour, who informed 

 me that, immediately on hearing the 

 report of fire, he had run to the works, 

 and stopped them ; and by a simple 

 contrivance of theirs, intended for the 

 purpose, the steam of the boiler was in 

 an instant conveyed to the chimney, 

 which produced the effect above men- 

 tioned. 



Hence, wherever there is a steam- 

 engine, or fire is any way employed in 

 the boiling of water or liquor to a 

 great extent, there can be no danger 

 from a chimney taking fire ; as. by a 

 similar contrivance, the steam of the 

 water may be instantly conveyed inh) 

 it, and the tire will be cxlinguislwd. 



Extinguishing Fire. 197 



This fact being generally known, will 

 remove the anxieties, which are not 

 inconsiderable, of those who liveintha 

 neighbourhood of extensive works of 

 this kind. 



But it strikes mc that the proprietors 

 of these works may find their advan- 

 tage in attending to the fact I have 

 mentioned. They have at hand the 

 power of steam, which they can turn to 

 any quarter they please. Supposing 

 the fire, instead of being in the chim- 

 ney, had been in their works or ware- 

 houses, might not the steam of their 

 boilers be usefully employed in extin- 

 guishing it. I am not prepared to say 

 to what extent it would contribute to 

 this .effect ; but if it would in any de- 

 gree, when the expense of carrying 

 pipes from the boiler to any part of 

 their works is so inconsiderable. It is 

 surely a subject worthy of their consi- 

 deration. The public is also interest- 

 ed in it; as the mischief of fire in a 

 manufactory is not confined to the 

 proprietor alone. 



I had scarcely finished the last sen- 

 tence, when a civil engineer of consi- 

 derable practice called on me : to 

 whom I read the above. He agreed 

 entirely witli me on the propriety of 

 the information respecting the diver- 

 sion of steam to the chimney of the 

 steam-engine, incase of fire in it being 

 extensively circulated. The expense 

 of making the alteration for the pur- 

 pose is trifling; consisting only in 

 forming a communication from the 

 boiler to the chimney, by means of a 

 cast-iron tube, with a stopper in the 

 middle of it, turned at ease, on occa- 

 sion, by a bar or piece of wood through 

 the ridge on the outside. In the 

 instance above mentioned, this tube is 

 not six feet long, and the valve to 

 prevent the steam going to work the 

 engine was shut, and a valve opened 

 for the steam to go up the chimney, 

 almost instantaneously. My friend, 

 however, was not so clearly satisfied 

 on the effects of the steam diverted to 

 any parts of the work when on fire ; 

 but he considered the question very 

 worthy of the investigation of all per- 

 sons who possess works in which 

 steam-engines are employed. 



One circumstance deserves attention 

 in examining this question. On divert- 

 ing the steam to the chimney above 

 mentioned, the ell'ect was almost an 

 instantaneous extinction of the fire in 

 the chimney ; and, instead of a torrent 



of 



