STILL MORE NERVOUS WORK—JUMPING-SHEET DRILL, A 20-FEET DROP.
One of the most interesting systems of rescue is that in which the chair knot is used. It is an extreme method only resorted to when the fierceness of the fire renders the use of the escape impracticable.
This method is shown in actual operation in one of our photographs. You are invited to suppose that the whole face of the building is alight, and that a person is in the top front room calling for assistance. Several men ascend to the roofs of the houses on either side of the doomed building. Each party has a rope, the two ends of which are tied in a knot consisting of two loops. The person in danger is instructed how to fasten the loops about him. He is now suspended in a sort of cradle or chair, and is lowered away, a guy rope to the ground controlling the angle of descent.
In some extreme cases where the chair knot cannot be used another method is resorted to. Several of the brigade ascend to the roof of the opposite house with a line. This has a knot similar to that already described at one end, and is swung or thrown across into the window at which the unfortunate individual stands. If this cannot be managed the brigade use a special rocket apparatus which enables them to shoot a line to any given spot.
The man or woman, as the case may be, gets into the knot and swings off the window-ledge. The rescue party know beforehand by the length of the line exactly where he or she will strike the wall of the opposite house, and a mattress is suspended at this spot to break the impact. At a middle window a long projecting fork catches the rope in the centre as it swings across the street, and plays an important part in lessening the shock to the human burden in the knot below.
Needless to say there must always be an element of risk in this method, and it is only resorted to when every other expedient has failed.
New hands are constantly exercised in the work of turning out, getting apparatus to work, and performing in every detail the duties likely to be met with at an ordinary fire. There is a great deal of esprit de corps among them, and this and natural love of competition soon place them on a footing with the older hands as regards rapidity, stability, and general smartness.
Wednesday is the most interesting day of the week. This is a sort of At Home day at Southwark, and during the afternoon all the drills are gone through for inspection by the Commander. The picturesque incident of this dress rehearsal is the dummy fire. Without the slightest warning the onlooker is startled by a shrill whistle, the mad ringing of bells, and cries of "Fire." From an upper story of one of the buildings volumes of dense black smoke pour forth, and before he has time to realise that the whole thing is nothing more than an elaborate rehearsal, a steamer clatters into the yard, an escape is run up, and the men are aloft with the hose. A moment later two persons are rescued from the burning room, the fire is got under, and the brigade pack up their traps and disappear as quickly as they came. The photograph on the next page illustrates the scene a few seconds after the first alarm.
This very realistic outbreak is produced by means of a little oil and straw, ignited in an alcove in the wall. The two men who attend it have a lively time between fire and water, and if appearance counts for anything they are not rescued a moment too soon.