Popular Science Monthly 



529 



WATER DtSCXARGED 

 IN HELMET 



This Fireman's Suit Is Made 

 of Real Water 



THE Cincinnati 

 fire department 

 has been testing a 

 new safety dress for 

 firemen. The man 

 who wears it can 

 stand right in the 

 midst of flames. He 

 need not fear the 

 glowing embers 

 around his feet. He 

 can walk into a fire 

 and it will dwindle 

 away and go out 

 around him. 



The dress is made 

 of fireproofed canvas 

 of two thicknesses 

 between which water 

 flows constantly. 

 The water enters b>- 

 means of a perfor- 

 ated brass tube which 

 encircles the neck 

 between the two thicknesses of canvas 

 and flows down between the layers through 

 the arms and legs, finding exits at the finger 

 tips and around the soles of the feet. 



Water flowing only between the two 

 thicknesses of canvas would not offer com- 

 plete protection to the wearer. To keep 

 him cool and comfortable while standing in 

 the hottest fire, two brass perforated tubes 

 encircle the helmet and give him a constant 

 shower-bath from 

 the outside as well 

 as within the folds 

 of the uniform. 

 This not only keeps 

 him from becoming 

 over-heated but 

 also extinguishes 

 the fire around him. 

 In this air-tight 

 water-bathed uni- 

 form some provi- 

 sion must, of course, 

 be made for ven- 

 tilation. The air 

 supply arranged for 

 cannot give out so 

 long as water con- 

 continues to flow 

 through the hose 

 held in the fire- 

 man's hand. It 

 comes from the 



surrounding atmosphere, no matter how 

 much smoke, flame or gases are in it. It is 

 sucked into a patented 

 collar which fits on the 

 hose just back of the 

 nozzle. The smoky air 

 is washed and purified 

 within the collar and 

 sent by the pressure of 

 the water flowing 

 through the hose, 

 up into the helmet 

 for the fireman to 

 breathe. The foul air 

 finds exit through 

 vents in the helmet. 

 The same collar which 

 washes and purifies the 

 air for the fireman also 

 has the water 

 hose connection 

 which supplies 

 the shower baths in- 

 side and outside of 

 the uniform. 



A fireman wearing this uniform stood in flaming 

 wood for ten minutes without discomfort 



How One Hospital Gets Its 

 Necessary Supplies 



AT the Overclift" Hospital, WestclifT-on- 

 £\ Sea, England, there is a feeling that the 

 public only wants to be taken into the con- 

 fidence of the public institutions in order to 

 offer efficient co-operation. So the hospital 

 authorities have introduced the "Want" 

 and "Thank You" 

 clock bulletin below. 



The "Want" and "Thank You" bulletin clock which the hospital 

 authorities of OverclifF Hospital, England, have placed in a con- 

 spicuous place on their campus to inform the public of their needs 



