EEE ES ae eee ee eS ee 
-2 commercial country hke ours. 
£58 Pian for erecting Telegraphic Fire-beacons, Ke. 
$l. 3s. per ton.—Beans 41. 4s, per quar- 
ter.—Standing for each horse, 2s. 6d. 
per week.—Dhitto for carriage, 2s. 6d. per 
week.—Oil and grease, 2s. per week ; 
which amounts, allowing a peck a-day to 
each horse, to 21. 85. per week; whereas 
‘ the customary charge at livery, is never. 
more than 1]. 4s. for four feeds, and by 
@ proper agreement, than 1}, 1s.; and as 
to the benefit the horse derives, I verily 
believe he is better off at livery, than in 
such private stables; for I understand the 
stable-keeper pleads, that he does not 
yet} and therefore cannot afford tu allow 
so much in the one case, as the other. 
Z hope it is the difficulty to prove this 
cheat, that is the cause of its continu. 
ance; but I would particularly recom- 
“mend to gentlemen who have not much 
Jeisure, or will not give themselves the 
trouble to look to the condition of their 
horses, to job them; and if they are not 
then in proper condition, to change the 
man of whom they are jobbed; you are 
then not open to impositions of this kind; 
but I hope, for the sake of the horse, 
there is not a gentleman in the kingdom 
awho would not prosecute both coach- 
nan and stable-keeper, if he could prove 
the fact. 
Brighton, 
Qctober 15, 1808. 
Your’s, &c. 
A CONSTANT READER. 
ae 
Zo the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
2 fulfilment of my promise, I send 
you a few thoughts, &c. occa- 
stoned by the numerous conflagrations 
that have so seriously alarmed the in- 
habitants of London, and so heavily 
affected the various fire-offices; trusting 
they may, in some measure, tend to the 
greater safety of the Metropolis. 
The importance of Insurance Compa- 
nies for the protection of property from 
the ravages of that destructive element, 
fire ; cannot be too highly appreciated in 
Their 
vast Increase in numbers and _ conse- 
quence, from their first commencement 
an the early part of the last century, to 
STaTet 
AE TER 
oO &@ Mh tt 
fe . 
fOct. 1, 
the numerous well-appointed offices of 
the present day, sufficiently prove their 
worth and utility. The superior con- 
struction of the fire-extinguishing engine, 
as at present generally used, and the 
additional space allowed them; the 
alacrity, activity, and undaunted bold- 
ness of the firemen in facing all dan- 
gers; and the attendance of the vo- 
lunteers, which, in a considerable de- 
gree, prevents the plundering of the 
unfortunate sufferers’ goods; have mae 
terially lessened the calamities of a 
‘conflagration. Yet afew words in illus- 
tration of a small deviation from, or ad- 
dition to, the present system, if found to 
aiford earlier assistance, and by so doing, 
prevent the spreading of a fire, will not, 
I hope, be reckoned ill-timed. 
The plan here proposed is, that a suf- 
ficient number of fire-stations, or bea- 
cons, should be erected, of an appro- 
priate plan and elevation; the design, if eles 
gance were consulted, might be a Grecian 
Doric column, raised on a substructure of 
a cross-like form, thatcontained: stables, 
engine-houses, and a dwelling-room ; the 
abacus surmounted with an iron gallery, 
ascended to by a circular stairease, and 
the signal-machinery hereafter described. 
These stations should be within the range 
of a night telescope, and embrace in their 
circle the whole of the metropolis, and 
most populous suburbs. Two or three 
men should constantly be on duty to re- 
lieve each other; one on the abacus of 
the column, on the look-out, as at his 
Majesty’s telegraphs. 
The machine for exhibiting the signals, 
is not of my invention, but I believe has 
not been appiied to any such purpose in 
Engiand. It isin form soméwhat like 
the roman letter T, with the extremities 
moveable upwards and downwards, and 
the centre on itself diagonally, by inter- 
nal machinery, constructed im the per- 
pendicular part, or siiatt;to adapt itself 
instantaneously to any ot the forms that 
it can accommodate itself ‘to, which are 
suficiently nuimerous for this purpose, 
being twenty-one distinct signals, viz.. 
7 poe 
- ; 
hae 
