Popular Science Mo?7fhIy 



207 



Afraid of Fire? Then Cany a Pocket 

 Fire -Escape 



THE traveling man comes in for full 

 consideration from the inventors and 

 experimenters of the day. Whether it is 

 because he is so ubiquitous, or because he 

 is such a necessary evil, something new is 

 constantly being placed on the market for 

 his convenience or to protect him from 

 danger. This time it is a pocket fire-escape. 

 With it he can get out of a burning hotel or 

 other building before the swiftest fireman 

 can get a chance to make a noble and 

 spectacular rescue. 



All that he has to do is to open 

 his suitcase, take out the 1 

 aluminum box that look 

 like a soap-box, open it 

 and attach the end of 

 the coiled steel wire 

 cable to any available 

 hook or loop it around 

 the bed-post or other 

 piece of heavy fur- 

 niture, fasten around 

 his body the strap 

 and "seat" arrange- 

 ment which is part 

 of the device, and 

 then hop out of the 

 window. The casing 

 containing the steel 

 cable is provided with 

 an indicator on which is 

 clearly marked the weights 

 which the cable will sustain. 

 This indicator is connected 

 with a control which adjusts the mechanism 

 in such a way that the rate of descerft is 

 governed by the weight sustained. For 

 instance if a man weighs two hundred 

 pounds, he turns the indicator until it 

 points to that number and his drop is no 

 faster than it would be if he weighed only 

 one hundred pounds and turned the indi- 

 cator to one hundred. In this way the 

 shock of a sudden drop is avoided, although 

 you can go down twenty stories in one 

 minute. The limit of the carrying capacity 

 of a one hundred and fifteen-foot cable is two 

 hundred pounds, but another size is manu- 

 factured which will sustain four hundred 

 pounds. 



You can go down over the porch or from 

 a steep roof, and if you should become un- 

 conscious from fright you are still safe. 

 Besides being of value to the traveler, it 

 would seem to be a convenience to firemen, 

 also. Even children can use it. 



The device consists of a coiled 

 steel wire cable and a strap 

 and seat arrangement. The 

 rate of descent is governed 

 by the weight of the person 



How a Whale Fought a Submarine and 

 Sank Her 



THE vessel "IT'. 5." was recently sunk 

 by a submarine without warning and 

 within sight of the coast-line of Florida. 

 The vessel was damaged so badly that it 

 sank within ten minutes, its crew barely 

 escaping with their lives. A monster whale 

 on coming to the surface, came up against 

 the sharp keel of the vessel, and it must 

 have received a disagreeable cut, for it im- 

 mediately attacked the boat and with one 

 whack of its tail stove a large hole in the 

 vessel's bottom. The water filled the boat 

 to its deck in less than ten minutes and it 

 went to the bottom almost immediately. 



While this matter cannot be directly 

 traced to any warring nation, it is possible 

 that the whale learned its bad habits from 

 the manner in which other neutral vessels 

 have been sunk in the last few vears. 



