FIRE. 



ing rooms with earth. The proposal is 

 founded on an experiment which lie made 

 with a fir board half an inch thick, part 

 of which he covered with an inch depth 

 of damp garden-mould, and then lighted 

 a fire on the surface of the mould ; though 

 the fire was kept up by blowing', it was 

 two hours before the board was burnt 

 through, and the earth prevented it from 

 flaming. The thicker the earth is laid 

 on the floors, the better: however, Dr. 

 Hales apprehends that the depth of an 

 inch will generally be sufficient : and he 

 recommends to lay a deeper covering on 

 the stairs, because the fire commonly as- 

 cends by them with the greatest velocity. 

 Mr. David Hartley made several trials in 

 the years 1775 and 1776, in order to 

 evince the efficacy of a method which he 

 had invented for restraining the spread 

 of fire in buildings. For this purpose, 

 thin iron plates were well nailed to the 

 tops of the joists, &c. the edges of the 

 sides and ends being lapped over, folded 

 together, and hammered close. Parti- 

 tions, stairs, and floors, may be defended 

 in the same manner ; and plates applied 

 to one side have been found sufficient. 

 The plates are so thin as not to prevent 

 the floor from being nailed on the joists, 

 in the same manner as if this preventive 

 was not used ; they are kept from 

 rust by being painted or varnished with 

 oil and turpentine. The expense of 

 this addition, when extending through 

 a whole building, is reckoned at about 

 five per cent. Mr. Hartley had a patent 

 for this invention, and parliament voted 

 a, sum of money towards defraying the 

 expense of his numerous experiments. 

 The same preservative may also be ap- 

 plied to ships, furniture, &c. Mr. Hart- 

 ley's patent has long since expired. Earl 

 Stanhope also discovered and published 

 a very simple and effectual method of 

 securing every kind of building against 

 fire. This method he has divided into 

 three parts, viz. under-flooring, extra- 

 lathing, and inter-securing The method 

 of under-flooring is either single or 

 double. In single under-flooring, a com- 

 mon strong lath of oak or fir, about one 

 fourth of an inch thick, should be nailed 

 against each side of every joist, and of 

 every main timber supporting the floor 

 which is to be secured. Other similar 

 laths are then to be nailed along the 

 whole length of the joists, with their 

 ends butting againat each other. The 

 top of each of these laths or fillets 

 ought to be at 1* inch' below the top of 



the joists or timbers against which they 

 are nailed; and they will thus form a 

 sort of small ledge on each side of all 

 the joists. These fillets are to be well 

 bedded in a rough plaster hereafter men- 

 tioned, when they are nailed on, so that 

 there may be no interval between them 

 and the joists ; and the same plaster 

 ought to be spread with a trowel upon 

 the tops of all the fillets, and along the 

 sides of that part of the joists which is 

 between the top of the fillets and the 

 upper edge of the joists. In order to 

 fill up the intervals between the joists 

 that support the floor, short pieces of 

 common laths, whose length is equal to 

 the width of these intervals, should be 

 laid in the contrary direction to the joists, 

 and close together in a row, so as 10 

 touch one another; their ends must 

 rest upon the fillets, and they ought to be 

 well bedded in the rough plaster, but 

 are not to be fastened with nails. They 

 must then be covered with one thick 

 coat of the rough plaster, which is to be 

 spread over them to the level of the tops 

 of the joists ; and in a day or two this 

 plaster should be trowelled over close to 

 the sides of the joists, without covering 

 the tops of the joists with it. In the me- 

 thod of double-flooring, the fillets and 

 short pieces of laths are applied in the 

 manner already described ; but the coat 

 of rough plaster ought to be iitile more 

 than half as thick as that in the former 

 method. Whilst this rough plaster is 

 laid on, some more of the short pieces 

 of laths above-mentioned must be laid 

 in the intervals, between the joists upon 

 the first coat, and be dipped deep in 

 it. They should be laid as close as pos- 

 sible to each other, and in the same 

 direction with the first layer of short 

 laths. Over this second layer of short 

 laths there must be spread another coat 

 of rough plaster, which should be trow- 

 elled level with the tops o: the joists 

 without rising above them. The rough 

 plaster may be made of coarse lime 

 and hair ; or, instead of hair, hay chop- 

 ped to about three inches in length may 

 be substituted with advantage. One 

 measure of common rough sand, two 

 measures of slacked lime, and three 

 measures of chopped hay, will form in 

 general a very good proportion, when 

 sufficiently beaten up together in the 

 manner of common mortar. The hay 

 should be put in after the two other 

 ingredients are well beaten up together 

 with water. This plaster should be made 



