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52
Parish of St. George the Martyr, Southwark.
power of one engine and twenty men always in readiness at almost every house door, to act
at one minute's notice in case of lire. Mr. Braidwood was of opinion that to have water
on night and day in all jnains and services would be a great advantage as to fires; and he
complained of the great want of water in time of need, in South London especially. Mr.
Newlands, of Liverpool, says:—"Serious fires are now seldom heard of, for before the
flames can gain head the jets can generally be played upon them ; and this early time is the
only time there is a chance of subduing them." No doubt, in the case of warehouses filled
with inflammable matter, even this might not succeed as we could wish; but even here,
water in time, in continuous flow and powerful jet, must be better than water not in time.
At Hamburgh, in 1842, 2,000 houses and public buildings were destroyed in a three days'
fire. Mr. Lindley, the civil engineer, who chiefly rebuilt the city, .will tell us how they
profited by the lesson. After that, let us hasten to profit by it also. "Throughout the
whole length of the pipeage are placed, at intervals of 40 yards, fire-plugs of three inches
clear diameter. A jet can be applied in two minutes. The power of eight engines may
thus be anywhere applied as quickly as the hose can be screwed on; and it may be introduced
inside the house where the fire is. Fires have happened repeatedly in the part of
the town rebuilt, but they have all been put out at once. If they had had to wait, the usual
time—twenty minutes or more—for engines and water, they would probably have led to
extensive conflagrations. The effect of this rapid extinction of fires has brought another
matter to light to the citizens of Hamburgh. The greater portion of the fires they found to
be the work of incendiaries for the sake of insurance money. A person is absent, smoke is
seen, the alarm is given, the door is forced open, the jet is applied, and so the fire is extinguished
immediately. Now are discovered, the arrangements made for the spread of the
fire. " The saving of money alone," Mr, Lindley says, " by the prevention of fires, would
be worth the whole expense of the like arrangement in London.
" And in connection with the same arrangements the jet is used in Hamburgh for watering
the streets at a charge of Id. per foot frontage per annum."
Mr. Gale (Report on Water Supply) says,—" As to the adoption of a constant supply in
preference to an intermittent one, I think there can be but one opinion; and I feel satisfied
that no one having had the experience of the former would ever think of falling back on
the latter. The reasons are obvious—1st. It is less expensive in the annual outlay, fewer
hands being required. 2nd. The water is less disturbed in the pipes, and is introduced
into the houses in a fresher state than if allowed to stagnate in pipes and cisterns. 3rd.
There is no necessity for tenements being supplied with tanks and cisterns (except, perhaps,
in the case of water-closets). Lastly, in the event of fires, the water being constantly a'
hand, the plugs may be opened without delay. In some cases—in many cases—the use of
fire-engines would be entirely dispensed with, as the fire would often be crushed out at the
very beginning."
The Bermondsey Vestry, after Mr. Quick's condemnatory report, very wisely sought information
literally at the fountain head. The answers from Manchester, Nottingham, Derb)
Durham, Leeds, Glasgow, and Dundee, in which places the constant supply is in use, are
very clear indeed as to the advantages of the system, and as to its complete success.
chester—" The advantages of this system over any other are too obvious to require enuw^'
ation ; it has been for many years in full and satisfactory operation within this citj ■