96 UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



of this room, is secured through the withdrawal of air from the top of 

 the boilers by the fan which furnishes forced draft to the stokers. 

 Being- enclosed in a brick house, this fan can obtain air from no other 

 source than the engine room. In practice, however, it has been found 

 necessary to by-pass a small amount of cooler air to the stoker fan 

 in order to prevent the excessive heating of the bearings by the 

 extremely hot air coming from above the boilers. 



MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT 



Fire service. — For announcing the discovery of a fire an alarm 

 system patterned after the customary city service has been provided. 

 The gong, 14 inches in diameter, is on the north wall of the south 

 pavilion in the first story. Connected with it by wires and operated 

 by Samson batteries, are nine stations located in different parts of 

 the building, as follows: One each in the ground, third and fourth 

 stories of the south pavilion, four in the third story of the main part 

 of the building, and one each on the landing of the east and west 

 service stairs between the ground and first story floors. Each sta- 

 tion consists of an iron box with glass face, fastened on the wall, 

 and the breaking of the glass with a small hammer attached closes 

 the circuit and causes the ringing of the gong, which repeats the 

 number of the station six times. 



For fighting fire there are three 4-wheeled chemical engines of 

 50 gallons capacity each, located in the ground, third and attic 

 stories, a very large number of hand extinguishers distributed to 

 all parts of the building, and a complete water system. The last 

 mentioned is connected with a Buffalo fire pump in the engine room, 

 which measures 14 by 7 by 12 inches and is controlled by means 

 of an automatic regulator. It is designed to furnish pressure at 

 about 90 pounds and is kept in readiness for action at all times. 

 The piping layout terminates in thirty 2^-inch outlets, six in each of 

 the five stories, including the attic, in all of which they are placed 

 at approximately equal distances apart. The equipment at each 

 outlet consists of a 2^-inch angle hose valve, a metal swinging hose 

 rack, and 175 to 200 feet of the best quality 2-|-inch linen hose with 

 a 12-inch long nozzle. All of the metal work is nickel-plated. 



Watch clock service. — During the greater part of the night 

 watches complete rounds of the interior of the building are made 

 at stated periods by members of the watch force. As a precautionary 

 measure, these rounds are checked in accordance with a system 

 which has long been in use in the older buildings, comprising a cen- 

 tral clock with appropriate mechanism for recording signals sent 

 from stations in different parts of the building, all of which the 

 watchmen are required to visit during each circuit. The central 

 or master clock, located in the oiSce of the captain of the watch. 



