s, masons, or
house-carpenters, who, being better acquainted with such work, are
likely to execute it in a shorter time than others--time, in such a
case, being everything, as a few minutes lost may cost the lives of
the whole party. It is not impossible, however, that circumstances may
occur to render all or either of these plans impracticable; in that
case, one or two of the lower windows must be darkened, and by this
means access gained to the upper ones. The plan recommended by the
Parisian firemen is, for a man to wrap himself up in a wet blanket,
and thus pass swiftly through the flames. But this effort is only to
be attempted when the flames from a single door are to be passed; in
any other case the stair will most likely be in flames, and
impassable.

A simple means of escape from fire is to have an iron ring fastened to
the window sill, and inside of the room a cradle, with a coil of rope
attached to it. The rope is put through the ring, and the person
wishing to escape gets into the cradle, and lowers himself down by
passing the rope through his hands. The great objection to this plan,
which is certainly very simple, is the difficulty, or rather
impossibility, of persuading people to provide themselves with the
necessary materials. Many men, too, are incapable of the exertion upon
which the whole plan depends; and if men in a state of terror are
unfit for such a task, what is to become of women and children?

Any fire-escape, to be generally useful, must, in the first place, be
capable of being carried about without encumbering the fire-engine;
and, in the next place, must be of instant and simple application. The
means which appear to me to possess these qualifications in the
highest degree, is a combination of the cradle plan, with Captain
Manby's admirable invention for saving shipwrecked seamen.

The apparatus necessary for this fire-escape is a chain-ladder eighty
feet long, a single chain or rope of the same length as the ladder, a
canvas bag, a strong steel cross-bow, and a fine cord of the very best
workmanship and materials, 130 feet long, with a lead bullet of
three-ounce weight attached to one end, and carefully wound upon a
wooden cone seven inches high and seven inches broad at the base,
turned with a spiral groove, to prevent the cord slipping when wound
upon it, also a small pulley with a claw attached to it, and a cord
reeved through it of sufficient strength to bear the weight of the
ladde