$44 
ing to the middle of the shed, which 
was still on fire in several places, in 
the crevices of the planks, and the 
holes made by the nails, he com- 
pletely extinguished the fire, whieh, 
from time to time, broke out again 
in smal] flames, and this terrible con- 
flagration was entirely got under.— 
According to the calculation of se- 
veral spectators, the fire was extin- 
guished in three minutes, at most, 
after the engine began to work. It 
is true the flames broke out again in 
several places, but they were of so 
little consequence, that they were ex- 
tinguished by means of wet rags fas- 
tened toastick. Before the engine 
began to work, the reservoir was 
filled, at two different times, with 
two buckets of water. But in the 
removal of the engine to the first 
aperture or window of the shed, 
and afterwards to the middle of it, 
a considerable quantity of water, 
that may be estimated at nearly a 
pailful, was spilt; so that it may 
with truth be asserted, that this vio- 
Jent conflagration was extinguished 
by three buckets of water, exclusive 
of what was afterwards used to ex- 
tinguish those parts of the shed that 
remained red. When the fire was 
out, every one could see that it was 
not only the matted straw which 
had been burned, but that the wood, 
of which the building was coustruét- 
ed, had been so completely on fire, 
that the space of an inch could not 
be found that had not been burned 
to a greater or less depth. The 
north-east side in particular, against 
which the wind had driven the 
flames with the greatest violence, 
was entirely charred. ‘The experi- 
ment made at Gotha differs materi- 
ally from that at Haarlem, in the fol- 
lowing particulars: that the flames 
and thick smoke that issued from 
1 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1803. 
the doors, rendered the approach te 
the shed, with the engine, extremely 
difficult at the former place, so that 
it was only by persuasion, and the 
courageous example he himself set, 
by placing himself always in front 
with the engine pipe, that M. Van 
Marum could induce his assistants 
to approach the danger they so 
much dreaded.” 
From what has been already 
stated, it results, that, in the appli- 
cation of this methed of extinguish- 
ing fire, the whole art consists in at- 
tending to what follows: that, to 
stop the most violent flame, it is ne- 
cessary only to wet the surface of 
the burning substance where the 
flame appears, and, for this purpose, 
only a small quantity of water is re- 
quired, if it be applied with judg- 
ment to the burning part; thus the 
point to be attended to in extin- 
guishing a fire, is to direct the wa- 
ter so that the whole surface of the 
burning part may be wetted and ex- 
tinguished, and that in such a man- 
ner, that no extinguished spot may 
be left between two others that are 
on fire ; for, if attention be not paid 
to this particular, the heat of the 
flame, burning here and there, ra- 
pidly changes into vapour the water 
with which the extinguished wood 
has been wetted, and it again takes 
fire. Therefore, to extinguish fire 
of every kind, and in whatever 
manner it may have happened, no- 
thing more is necessary than to ap- 
ply to the burning part a sufficient 
quantity of water to wet its sur- 
face. 
On the Advantages resulting to Ves- 
sels constructed with Sliding Keels. 
From ‘* Grant’s Voyage to the. 
South Seas.” 
1. VESSELS 
= oe aR 
