106 Mr Fairbairn on Fireproof Warehouses. 
importance ; because in rooms or floors where combustible 
material is stored, nothing tends so much to the security of 
the building and its contents as a power to shut out and 
prevent the admission of air. For this purpose an iron or 
stone staircase, surrounded by brick or stone walls, and 
communicating with the different floors by iron doors, should 
always be attached. This staircase should be easy of ap- 
proach from without, with a covered opening at the top, and 
windows at each landing, in order to effect free ventilation, 
and a ready communication with every part of the building. 
Warehouses constructed upon this principle will effect almost 
perfect security, and, in the event of fire, will enable persons 
not only to approach the locality, but, in case of the casual 
admission of atmospheric air, the room might be shut up and 
the flames smothered till an effectual remedy was at hand. 
For these objects I would strongly recommend the iron 
doors, frames, and shutters, as constructed and used by 
Messrs Samuel and James Holme, of Liverpool, to be fixed 
in every room. These doors are made of double sheet-iron 
plates, rivetted to a skeleton frame, with a stratum of air 
between, which, acting as a non-conductor, is admirably 
adapted to the purpose for which they are intended. 
Thirdly, An isolated stone or iron staircase, well protected 
on every side by brick or stone walls, to be attached to every 
story, and the staircase to be furnished with a line of water 
pipes communicating with the main in the street, and ascen- 
ding to the top of the building. 
Under the second division we have already treated of the 
staircase, and the necessity which exists for having it per- 
fectly distinct from other parts of the building: exclusive of 
this separation, it will be found still more secure by having 
a copious supply of water always at command. That supply 
should not only exist in the street mains, but should commu- 
nicate with every landing by a brass cock and hose, till it 
terminates in a cistern with a valve on the top of the roof. 
This cistern should be of such capacity as would insure a suf- 
ficient supply of water in case of accident to the pipes in the 
street. The pipes, leather hose, and the requisite discharge 
of cocks, screw-keys, &c., should be kept in good repair, and 
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