Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 February 1892 — TO FIGHT THE SMOKE. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TO FIGHT THE SMOKE.

Invention of an Apparatus for the Protectlon of Firemen. This might he some sort of elephantine freak or a new style of diving apparatus, but it is neither. It is a safeguard for firemen, and was invented by W. F. Merryman, a veteran member of the Denver department. Mr. Merryman has long been interested in the problem of providing some device Which would enable a fireman to penetrate the densest smoke without danger of inhaling it. The invention which he has just perfected will, it is said, accomplish this result, and is based upon the discovery that a column of water four inches in diameter or less will, when suddenly reduced to about one-third that size at the nozzle, gather with it at

tjjat point large quantities of air. Two pipes lead from the air accumulator fastened on the end of the nozzle to the rubber mask, completely enveloping the face. Through the pipe nearest the end of the nozzle passes the fresh air gathered from the water, while from the other passes, by reason of a vacuum, the exhausted air from the lungs. The apparatus is equally well adapted for use in mines in case of fire-damp, or under any other circumstances where the atmosphere is sa impure as to make work in it dangerous.

THE AIR ACCUMULATOR.