FIRE 



2178 



FIRE 



grant leaves are used to stuff pillows; the odor 

 is very soothing to invalids. 



The silver, or lowland, fir is a gigantic tree, 

 often growing as high as 300 feet. It is 

 abundant in the Pacific states and furnishes 



THE BALSAM FIR 



Form of the tree and a branch showing needles 

 and cones. 



a soft, white wood that is used for boxes, bar- 

 rels and some interior finishing. The red fir 

 of the same region is very much like the silver 

 fir. About 2,000,000 board feet of fir timber, 

 worth from $18,000,000 to $20,000,000, are cut 

 yearly on the Pacific coast. 



FIRE. Fire is visible heat, resulting from 

 the chemical combination of certain substances 

 with the oxygen of the air. Heat and light are 

 among the results of this union. Although they 

 are perfectly combustible, such substances as 

 wood and coal will not take fire of them- 

 selves; that is, they will not combine with 

 oxygen until they are heated, and they will 

 not continue to burn if oxygen be not present. 

 This explains the ease with which a small fire 

 may be smothered under a quilt; it dies when 

 it can no longer feed upon oxygen. 



Wood gives the liveliest sort of blaze. This 

 is due to the fact that when wood is heated 

 it gives off quantities of inflammable gas; 

 the resulting flame is simply burning, or unit- 

 ing, gas. Flames give light for several reasons. 

 Some gases are highly luminous in themselves, 

 but in the case of such flames as those formed 

 by gas jets, the light is given out by particles 

 of unburnt carbon which are raised to incan- 

 descence. 



The value of fire to civilization can hardly be 

 exaggerated. It cooks the world's foods, warms 

 people in winter and furnishes the energy 



that drives all the great machines and makes 

 vast industries possible. In fact, fire is so 

 nearly indispensable to life itself that no tribes 

 of men are known who have not the art of 

 making fire, and according to the modern 

 theory it was the discovery of fire and its 

 uses that marked the emergence of man from 

 the lowest condition of savagery (see CIVILIZA- 

 TION). Primitive peoples have, however, very 

 slow and unsatisfactory ways of kindling 

 flames. One of the earliest ways was that 

 shown in the accompanying illustration, in 

 which a sharp stick rotated between the hands 

 produced heat and then fire. 



When fire was so difficult to kindle, it is 

 no wonder that primitive man took care to 

 keep some fire burning all the time. The 

 reason for this practice was later forgotten; 

 nevertheless, fire was still regarded as precious 

 and often as a symbol of sacred things, which 

 explains the reason that fires were kept burn- 

 ing in the temples. Early thinkers of the pagan 

 world developed the mistaken idea that fire 

 is one of the four elements of the world, the 

 other three being air, earth and water. Science 

 has shown that this is not true. 



Fire Prevention. The enormous loss in prop- 

 erty and lives caused by fires each year can be 

 graphically brought home to everyone by the 

 following illustration : Imagine a street a thou- 

 sand miles in length, stretching from New York 



ANCIENT FIRE MAKERS 



(1) A sharp stick rotated swiftly between the 

 hands, friction producing heat, then fire, the 

 most primitive method ; led to ( 2 ) in which the 

 genius of mechanics is shown. The cord encircles 

 the upright stick and one single length or' the 

 cord turning around the stick causes many vibra- 

 tions of the latter. (3) A great step toward 

 matches ; man discovered that striking a stone 

 on a flint produced a spark which ignited dry 

 grass. 



to Chicago and lined with buildings of a typical 

 city homes, churches, schools, factories, stores, 

 etc. Suppose this street, crowded with people 

 and vehicles of every description, should be 

 set on fire at either end, and should burn at 





