114 GREGORY'S FIRE-LADDERS. GREGORY'S IMPROVED FIRE LADDERS. (In continuation from p. 103, of List of Fire-Escapes submitted to the Society for the Prevention of Loss of Life by Fire.) Sir,-Of all the expedients for preventing loss of life by fire, ladders appear to have been the first; and in the metropolis these appear to have been furnished, solely for this purpose, in such plentiful abundance (see vol. x. p. 260), that, with proper attention, they would, to the present day, have superseded the necessity for any other contrivance. Much has been said of the impropriety of using ladders for a fireescape, upon the ground that few persons can descend a high ladder without great risk. There is, however, an old English proverb, that 66 a drowning man will catch at a straw;" and several facts which have lately fallen under my notice prove that the same truth applies to the means of escape from fire; and that, in numerous instances, persons impelled by threatened danger, both men, women, and children, have availed themselves of methods of escape, on which, in their collected moments, they would have gazed with fearful apprehension. The narrowest plank, the highest ladder, and even the water-pipes on the outside of a house, have alike afforded the means of escape to the most timid of both sexes. This much, I believe, is certain, that in no instance where a ladder of a proper height has been procured in sufficient time, have fatal conse quences resulted. On the contrary, every melancholy loss of life by fire, or in attempting to escape from it, has been attended with the total absence of ladders, or else those brought have been of an insufficient height to reach that part of the house at which the unfortunate sufferers have been situated. This latter circumstance entirely disappears in the adoption of the escape ladder of Mr. Gregory; the construction of which I proceed to describe, and of which fig. 1 is a representation, consisting of a frame, In this or platform, mounted on four wheels, for the facility of transportation. Upon this frame are placed three ladders L L, grooved together, and sliding upon each other. position it is ready either for transportation or elevation, and is connected with the platform in two places, viz. by short pins a, one on each side of the machine, which pass through the upper part of the frame, and also through the sides of the ladder; and, secondly, by an iron rod b, which passes through the lower part of the ladder, and also through two iron cheeks, which are inserted in the bed of the carriage. In this state the ladders admit of no movement except that of raising them, which is effected by means of two handles, each working a windlass W on either side of the machine, on one common centre or axis. The action of the windlass winds up a rope, which passes over the pulley c, hear the top of the first ladder, and is fastened to the lower extremity of the second ladder; the winding up of this rope, therefore, causes the elevation of the second ladder. To the frame of the machine is fixed one end of a rope e, which, passing over the pulley d, at the top of the second ladder, is fastened to the lower end of the third ladder. While the second ladder, therefore, is raised upon the first, by the action of the windlass, so the third is raised upon the second, at the same time, on account of one end of the rope attached to it being_immoveably fixed to the frame. The action of two men at the handles, therefore, speedily elevates the ladders to their full extent. Fig. 2 is a front view, on a reduced scale, of the ladders, in an elevated position. The ladders are retained at any required elevation, at every. intermediate inch, from ten to fifty feet, by means of a click (fig. 1 g), which takes into the ratchet wheel of the windlass. The ladder. is raised in a (nearly) perpendicular position, because in that case much less friction is generated than when the ladders slide with a portion of their weight upon each other,which they do if raised in an in the house from which any person is to be rescued, and having raised the ladders to a sufficient height, it then becomes necessary to "fall" them, -that is, to give them such an inclination as will bring them in contact with the window, upon the sill of which the upper ladder should rest. This is accomplished by tak ing out the pins a on each side, which permits the ladders to move freely on the lowest rod b, as a centre; the amount of inclination being regulated by a rope on each side; one of which, f, is shown in fig. 1, passing through a pulley block hat the upper end of the first ladder. Fig. 3 shows the ladder in the inclined position. Should the persons three ladders (which being equal to about forty feet, is not very likely to be often the case), a fourth, or even an unlimited number of ladders may be carried up, and added to the top of the uppermost ladder. This is accomplished by furnishing the extra ladders (one of which always accompanies the machine) with four hooks, which take firm hold of any two steps of the ladder to which the addition is to be made. Fig. 4 shows the lower end of one of these ladders, with the hooks HH placed two on each side. Some time since, Mr. Gregory proposed to equip the fire engine with a series of these ladders, by means of which an escape ladder of any required altitude might be constructed 116 PROPORTIONAL NUMBER OF LETTERS IN THE ALPHABET. and raised in a few seconds. For the greater convenience of stowage, lay parallel with the uppermost rail of the frame or platform. The carriage is provided with a box B, fig. 1, for containing the winch handle, pieces of wood for blocking the wheels while the machine is in use, and also a rope, pulley, and cradle, for saving those persons who cannot avail themselves of the ladders. By means of the rope which is used for raising the cradle, the hose and branch of a fire-engine can also be elevated, and the column of water directed to that part of the house in which the fire is raging, with much better effect than from the ground. Some of the advantages obtained by elevating the hose was noticed at page 61 of vol. ix. The application of this machine to the purpose of a fire-escape is only one of a great many uses of which it is capable. For the use of builders, painters, &c. &c. it is of the greatest utility; and many public offices are furnished with them, for various different purposes, or bire them of Mr. Gregory, upon At the coroparticular occasions. nation of his present Majesty, Mr. Gregory rendered "good suit and service" with his ladders, in Westminster Hall. The citizens of Lon. don have provided one of these machines in Guildhall, for the use of the Board of Works; and it is from this machine that the accompanying drawing was taken. The time and expense saved by using this machine in lieu of scaffolding is very considerable indeed. Allow me to point out an error in your 293d Number, where, at p. 83, the escape ladder of Mr. Hudson is confounded with the bed carriage of another gentleman of the same COMPENSATION PENDULUMS AND BALANCES. letters are uniformly substituted for others. I here, therefore, present you with a Table of these proportions for the letters of four Euro pean languages, drawn up with some care, and which I hope will Alphabet. 117 The be found tolerably correct. The great comparative preponderance of consonants over vowels, in the English language, so much BALANCES. complained of by foreigners, is thus (In continuation from p. 36 of Mr. Wynn's rendered very striking. I should like to see a similar Table for the Latin, Greek, German, and Spanish languages. Perhaps some of your correspondents who are curious in such inquiries may supply it. I am not aware of any essential mistake in this Table; but if there be one, I shall be thankful to see it corrected. Reply to Mr. Harrison.) his Mr. Harrison has, in the course of his papers, said a great deal about compensation pendulums in church clocks, and turns all my at tempts to please the public into ridicule, for having used a wooden rod pendulum. I shall only say, in answer, that for a workman to pretend to apply a compensation pendulum to a church clock, unless he has to live on the spot for many years after it is made, and unless, also, he has had instruments for observing the sun, of the most expen. sive kind, attached to the same building as the clock, he would be |