House and Garden 
and refuse from the building that forms the chief 
objection to the use of one in a small garage. When 
a man does his own repairing, however, it is probable 
that he will be impressed with the necessity of these 
precautions, and realizing the danger from sponta¬ 
neous combustion in the confined space of the pit, 
will make sure that no oily or greasy rags are allowed 
to remain there after the cover is replaced. Spon¬ 
taneous combustion has been the cause of many 
“mysterious” fires which could easily have been pre¬ 
vented had due precaution been taken. Cases have 
been known where a piece of oily waste left in the 
bottom of an open motor boat was the cause of a fire 
which destroyed the whole craft, and if spontaneous 
combustion can take place so readily in an uncovered 
space, how much more is it liable to occur in the en¬ 
closed pit where the air may remain unchanged for 
several days at a time! 
It should be remembered that the method of fight¬ 
ing a fire which occurs in a pan or tank of gasoline is 
entirely different from the ordinary practice where 
great quantities of water are used. In fact, if a fire 
should break out in an open pan or pail of gasoline, 
no water whatever should be employed as it does not 
serve to quench the fire in the least and is liable in 
addition to scatter the burning liquid to all parts of 
the floor. 
A case of this kind occurred a few months 
ago in one of the large garages in New York City. 
A “helper” was cleaning an engine with a brush and 
gasoline. A pan was placed under the engine to 
catch the drippings, and in some unaccounta¬ 
ble manner the gasoline on the motor caught fire 
and this was communicated to the contents of the 
pan. 
A pail of water was thrown on the burning liquid, 
but this only served to scatter the fire in every direc¬ 
tion and had no eff ect whatever in putting it out. It 
was only after the application of chemicals and sand 
that the fire was got under control, and had the build¬ 
ing not been absolutely fireproof it is certain that 
great damage would have been done. This well 
illustrates the advisability of having some kind 
of chemical fire extinguisher near at hand in the 
garage. 
The most efficient of these chemicals come in the 
form of a powder put up in a long tube. In case of 
fire, the top of the tube is pulled off and the contents 
thrown at the base of the burning material, and the 
powder, at the instant of coming in contact with the 
intense heat, forms fumes which cut off the supply 
of oxygen and literally “starve” the fire. A pail of 
sand is also useful for smothering flames upon which 
water will have no effect. It is always well to carry 
one of these tubes of chemicals in some accessible 
place on the car, and by so doing many a disastrous 
fire in an automobile may be avoided. 
For garages in which pits cannot he provided, 
special frames are made upon which the car may 
be run. 
These frames are two or three feet high and 
as they are provided with casters, they may he 
moved to any part of the garage. The disadvantage 
of this method of getting at the underside of the car, 
however, lies in the fact that it will be rather difficult 
to move a heavy automobile up the inclined plane 
leading to the frame without the aid of its own power, 
and as this is often impossible owing to the nature of 
the breakdown which it is necessary to repair, it will 
he seen that this device is hardly suited for use in a 
small private garage. 
The average man who does his own repairing will 
not only find that he can cut down the expenses of 
maintaining a car, but that he will also take a re¬ 
newed interest in motoring due to the increased 
knowledge of the details of the mechanism and con¬ 
struction of his automobile with which such work 
must imbue him. 
174 
THE PIT SHOULD BE AS LONG AS THE CAR AND ABOUT CHEST DEEP. IT SHOULD ALSO BE 
PROVIDED WITH REMOVABLE COVERS 
