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F. M. Holmes. Firemen and Their Exploits
Firemen and Their Exploits
Table of Contents
PREFACE
CHAPTER I. THE HORSED FIRE-ESCAPE APPEARS. AN EXCITING SCENE
CHAPTER II. THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY. HERO'S "SIPHON." HOW THE ANCIENTS STROVE TO EXTINGUISH FIRES
CHAPTER III. IN MEDIÆVAL DAYS. AN EPOCH-MAKING FIRE
CHAPTER IV. THE PEARL-BUTTON MAKER'S CONTRIVANCE. THE MODERN FIRE-ENGINE
CHAPTER V. EXTINGUISHMENT BY COMPANY. THE BEGINNINGS OF FIRE INSURANCE
CHAPTER VI. THE STORY OF JAMES BRAIDWOOD
CHAPTER VII. THE THAMES ON FIRE. THE DEATH OF BRAIDWOOD
CHAPTER VIII. A PERILOUS SITUATION. CAPTAIN SHAW. IMPROVEMENTS OF THE METROPOLITAN BOARD AND OF THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL
CHAPTER IX. A VISIT TO HEADQUARTERS
CHAPTER X. HOW RECRUITS ARE TRAINED
CHAPTER XI. SOME STORIES OF THE BRIGADE
CHAPTER XII. FIRE-ESCAPES AND FIRE-FLOATS
CHAPTER XIII. CHEMICAL FIRE-ENGINES. FIRE-PROOFING, OR MUSLIN THAT WILL NOT FLAME
CHAPTER XIV. THE WORK OF THE LONDON SALVAGE CORPS. THE GREAT CRIPPLEGATE FIRE
CHAPTER XV. ACROSS THE WATER
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F. M. Holmes
With some account of the rise and development of fire-brigades, of various appliances for saving life at fires and extinguishing the flames
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The earliest machine, so far as is generally known, was described by Hero of Alexandria about a hundred and fifty years before Christ. He called it "the siphon used in conflagrations"; and it seems to have been originated by Ctesibius, a Greek mechanician living in Egypt, whose pupil Hero became.
It is very interesting to notice how this contrivance worked. It was fitted with two cylinders, each having a piston connected by a beam. This beam raised and lowered each piston alternately, and with the help of valves—which only opened the way of the jet—propelled water to the fire, but not continuously. The method must have proved very inefficient, especially when compared with the constant stream thrown by the modern fire-engine. Indeed, it is this power to project a steady and continuous stream which chiefly differentiates the modern fire-engine from such machines as Hero's siphon.
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