Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II FURTHER MEASURES FOR PROTECTION IN THE HOUSE THE DEPARTMENT OF A SMALL TOWN As a protection and a measure to offset fire loss, means of quick communication with the local fire department are essential. The telephone has in many instances taken the place of other methods of notifying the department of fire, but although the central and number of fire headquarters should be posted at the head of the list in each house which possesses a telephone, it is frequently well to supplement the instrument by a special fire alarm. Persons who constantly use the telephone in the course of daily life are often apt to forget it in the moment of excitement when fire breaks out, whereas a special apparatus connected in the mind solely with the notification of fire is promptly thought of. Whatever apparatus is employed to communicate with the department. the essential thing is to use it promptly. Home apparatus of one kind or another, extinguishers, hose, buckets or what not, mayand, as has been said, do serve the purpose, but they should not be considered a sole reliance, and the moment a fire is discovered, the department whose business it is to extinguish it should be notified. Every householder should, of course, know the location of the nearest public fire alarm box and its method of operation. There are several types of excellent boxes in which simplicity is the greatest virtue. The antiquated key box is fortunately rapidly disappearing, though many are still in use and even in large cities, as, for instance, in parts of Brooklyn, some are to be found. This relic of the dark ages of fire-fighting should be extirpated with all possible speed, for it is a most foolish waste of valuable seconds to be forced to rush about your own house looking for the desired key, or more fre...