Guide to Hotel Housekeeping

by Mary E. Palmer

All fire hose should be tested every six months. A leak may have caused the hose to become worthless. All hose should be attached to the fire plug at all times and the little wrench for turning on the water should be tied to the rack where the hose is kept. All these essentials should be examined and carefully scrutinized by every housekeeper and chambermaid. A fire can make great progress while some inexperienced person is fumbling with and trying to attach the hose and turn on the water. There should be a red light in the hall in front of the fire escape window; a red light can be seen better than a white one. The view of the fire escape window should never be obstructed by any kind of a curtain.

All hotels should have a stand pipe, it will reduce the rate of insurance one-third.

Although few people know how to escape down a rope fire-escape, every room in the hotel should be equipped with one. All fire departments should have a life net; dropping into a life-net is not so hazardous as sliding down a rope when one is ignorant of the proper way to do it. The life nets are made of woven rope with springs, and are 10 feet in diameter. The firemen hold this net and persons dropping into it can be saved.

The Kirker Bender spiral tube fire-escape is the best and safest. In one minute 200 persons can slide through the Kirker Bender, to absolute safety. It is a very expensive fire escape, but expense should not be considered when building fire-escapes. There should be a fire-alarm box in every hall. Should a fire occur, on a floor where there is no fire-alarm box, a messenger would have to be dispatched to the office before the fire company could be notified. Some hotels have no fire-box at all. The fire-box being located a block away from the hotel. Fire-boxes can be put in hotels with very little expense. It is an old saying—"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." This is especially true in the case of fire prevention. If the following precautions are taken, fires from accident or spontaneous combustion seldom occur.

Fire Prevention.

Keep your hotel clean and never allow rubbish, such as paper, rags, cobwebs, old clothing and boxes to accumulate in closets and unused rooms. Don't allow coal oil lamps to be used by women patrons for the purpose of heating curling irons. Never put up gas brackets so they can be swung against door casings or immediately under curtains. Never keep matches in any but metal or earthen safes. Never keep old woolen rags that have been used in oiling and cleaning furniture, or waxing floors, unless in a tin can with a tin lid.

Origin of Fires.

Fires are the results of accidents, of spontaneous combustion, and of design. If they have been accidental, the cause can generally be discovered, and it will be found, that they might have been prevented. Carelessness and negligence are the cause of over two-thirds of all fires.

Electrical fires are caused from electric light wires lying against wood or iron, or coming in contact with water. A stream of water thrown on a heavily charged electric light wire will give a shock and may even kill the fireman holding the nozzle. This is one reason why the electric lights are cut off when a fire is raging and thus leaving people to grope their way out through darkness. All hotels should have hall-ways lighted by gas, and especially should a gas light with a red globe be placed in front of all fire escape windows.

Should a fire occur at night the housekeeper should give orders to have all doors unlocked and the gas lighted in the halls.