CHEMICAL FIRE EXTINGUISHERS.
The New York Fire Exchange has recently published a pamphlet entitled, “Requirements for the Proper Insulation of Chemical Fire Extinguishers,” which concludes thus: “The use of the extinguisher is especially recommended for the following kinds of fires: Inaccessible fires in hidden places, between floors, ceilings and partitions, and in chimneys, flues and shafts; in inclosed spaces, such as closets, boxes, etc.; overhead tires, such as draperies, curtains, hangings, decorations, etc.” F’ifty years ago chemical fire extinguishers were in use. They were, however, of a very inferior kind when compared with those of today, as may he seen from the description of the action of a Phillips “lire annihilator” in a New York printing office —a small room in which four of these annihilators were stored. It exploded, causing an alarm of fire, and producing great consternation among the employes, many of whom were females. 1 he firemen soon put out the lire, which had caught in a pile of paper. The owner of the office said that just before the explosion occurred he observed a vapor, accompanied by a hissing sound, escaping from the room in question, and. believing that the steam boiler was about to explode, he ran into the street; his foreman, however, ascertained the origin of the fire, and threw the annihilators out of the window. The explosion is supposed to have resulted from the spontaneous combustion of the materials of which the annihilator was composed.