Dropping to Safety from a Fire 



Sl'CC'KSSl'lil. expcriim-iUs wrrc 

 uiadc recently with a new Danish 

 lire-escape at tlie main tire-station 

 of Charlottenburg, wliicli is a sul)url) of 

 Berlin. The apparatus comprises a 

 crane which can be swiuig out of the 

 window, a rope and a brake to regulate 

 the speed of descent. The brake con- 

 sists of a pair of cylinders tilled wiih 

 oil. They act like the cylinders of an 

 automatic door-closer and are not 

 influenced perceptibly by differences in 

 the weight of passengers. 



riie apparatus can be secured to any 

 window. An iron plate is securely 

 bolted to the window-frame or fastened 

 to the stonework. When a fire breaks 

 out the apparatus is swung out of the 

 winck)w on the iron plate. The entire 

 weight isonlyaboul twenty- twopoiuids. 



To escaiie from a 

 burning building, you 

 first put on a leather 

 belt and slip a safel\- 

 ht)ok on the wire rope 

 of the apparatus 

 into a ring on 

 the belt. Then 

 you mount the 

 w i n d o w s i 1 1 , 

 swing out the 

 crane, and step 

 into space. 

 When you reach 

 the ground, you 

 slip off the bell. 

 A coiled spring, 

 which has been 

 placed under 

 tension as the 

 result of your 

 drop, winds up 

 the rope auto- 

 matically and is ready 

 for the next passenger 

 in line. 



The speed of the drop is about time 

 and one-half feet a second. The sjiring 

 winds up the rope at the rate of se\enty 

 feet a second. 



Experts are inclined to regard the 

 new means of escape as the most 

 efficacious yet employed. Besides being 

 swifter than the old method it is con- 



To escape from a burning build- 

 ing, a belt is put on. a safety- 

 hook is adjusted and a swift 

 descent is made through space 



In the detail illustration the crane of 

 the apparatus is shown and the brake 

 cylinders which regulate the speed of 

 descent. A coiled spring just above 

 the belt rewinds the rope automatically 



sidered safer and the exit is apt to be 

 less frenzied than down a stairway. 



565 



