FIREBALL 



2180 



FIRE DEPARTMENT 



armed with battle axes, spears and bows and 

 arrows crumbled before the assault of the new 

 weapons. Cumbersome pistols, blunderbusses 

 and clumsy muskets were introduced, and the 

 bow and arrow was driven from the field, to be 

 retained only by savages. The rifle was in- 

 vented in 1498 and since that date multiplied 

 improvements have been made, resulting in the 

 high-powered firearms and explosives of mod- 

 ern warfare. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Armor Musket 



Arms Revolver 



Artillery Rifle 



Cannon Shotgun 



Machine Gun Small Arms 



FIRE 'BALL, a projectile discharged from a 

 gun with the purpose of setting fire to the 

 enemy's works, or by bursting in the air, to 

 illuminate, positions beneath and act as a guide 

 to gunfire. During the War of the Nations 

 fireballs were extensively used for the first time 

 in centuries, for since medieval times no nation 

 at war had employed them. The modern fire- 

 balls consist of bags filled with a mixture of 

 powder similar to that employed in the making 

 of fireworks. When discharged into the air 

 they become ignited by means of fuses and 

 burn slowly with a bright light, like that given 

 out by the balls in a Roman candle. The 

 name fireball is also given to a meteor which 

 appears like a globe of light passing with great 

 velocity across the sky. 



FIRE 'CRACKERS, a term applied to sev- 

 eral kinds of fireworks resembling small bombs. 

 They are made of cylinders of paper of many 

 layers, in which an explosive charge of gun- 

 powder is placed. A fuse, made of cotton 

 soaked in a mixture of starch and gunpowder, 

 projects from one end. Firecrackers may be 

 made to explode once, or may consist of a 

 long cylinder, tightly tied at intervals, with 

 many charges giving a series of a dozen or 

 more explosions. They vary in size from one- 

 fourth of an inch in diameter and one inch in 

 length, to three inches or more in thickness and 

 more than one foot in length. The explosive 

 is a mixture of powdered charcoal and chlorate 

 and bichromate of potash. 



The origin of firecrackers is unknown, but 

 they were probably used by Eastern peoples 

 several thousands of years ago. Their manu- 

 facture was begun in America in the middle of 

 the nineteenth century. They were for years 

 produced in enormous quantities, but the out- 



put is decreasing, owing to legislation limiting 

 their use. There is widespread agitation for 

 their entire suppression, as they are dangerous 

 to handle, and their careless use often leads to 

 serious injury. The Fourth of July is the most 

 popular occasion for their use in the United 

 States; in many parts of the world they are 

 a feature attending Christmas celebrations. 

 The Guy Fawkes celebrations of November 5 

 were formerly the chief occasions for the use 

 of firecrackers in England and Canada. See 

 FIREWORKS. 



FIRE DAMP, a miners' name for carbureted 

 hydrogen, or coal gas, found deep in mines and 

 caused by the decomposition of coal. When 

 mixed with air it becomes highly explosive, 

 and has often caused great loss of life by ignit- 

 ing when accidentally brought in contact with 

 the flame of a lamp or candle. A dangerous 

 gas, called by miners "after damp," is produced 

 by the combustion of the fire damp. Accidents 

 due to fire damp were so frequent in English 

 coal mines that Sir Humphry Davy devoted 

 particular study to the subject, and finally 

 invented a lamp which could be used with 

 safety in an atmosphere saturated with fire 

 damp. The safety lamp is now a part of the 

 equipment of every miner, and is worn on the 

 front of the cap. See DAVY, SIR HUMPHRY; 

 MINING. 



FIRE DEPARTMENT, a semi-military or- 

 ganization formed to fight conflagrations. 

 Cities in the United States and Canada find 

 it far more necessary to maintain fire-fighting 

 forces than in Europe, where more attention is 

 given to fire prevention. Until recently Amer- 

 ican fire departments concerned themselves 

 only with extinguishing fires already burning, 

 but now they cooperate with insurance com- 

 panies in securing and enforcing stricter build- 

 ing laws and in spreading knowledge of the 

 causes of fire. Wooden structures prevail in 

 the United States and Canada, except within 

 certain districts called "fire-limits," but in 

 Europe they are not permitted in any locality 

 where they may endanger other buildings. 



In America the highly-trained and efficiently- 

 equipped fire departments of to-day are the 

 outgrowth of the "bucket brigades" which in 

 earlier times passed pails of water from hand 

 to hand, and the volunteer hose companies 

 which ran to a fire pulling their hose carts and 

 hand pumps. 



The fire departments of all large cities are 

 organized along very similar lines. Each con- 

 sists of a chief fire marshal, assistant fire mar- 



