Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 61, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 April 1909 — ESCAPE FROM FIRE. [ARTICLE]

ESCAPE FROM FIRE.

Human life has often been thrown away by persons taking the precaution to accustom their minds to dwell on proper methods of acting In emergencies; for want of this many rush into the jaws of death. College girls should know every means of escape should fire break out in the night when they mpst depend almost wholly upon their own wits for escape. Girls in boarding houses, schools or lodging houses of any kind should be very cautious of fire. Often a flaming gas jet courts the flying lace curtains and it takes but an Instant for the Are to make great headway. The most disastrous garment a girl can wear in winter is a nightdress of flannel. Once it is ignited, the flames instantly envelop the entire body. Muslin does not burn so rapidly. Another precaution should be taken in making these garments so as to be easily torn off in case of fire, when the gown is ignited, yet hundreds of girls wear the kind without buttons that are slipped on over the head—winding sheets, nothing more. Naturally the mind is confused if one is awakened in the night from a sound sleep. Doors should be kept closed to prevent a draught. A wet towel thrown over the head and face has prevented many serious burns and also enabled persons to escape through dense smoke. One should value life too dearly to jump from a window until dire necessity would compel such an act A college girl I know carries in her trunk a long con of' rope. She takes it every

place she goes so that, in case of fire in college or any place where she is stopping, she could avail herself of it without the least trouble. It always hangs on a wardrobe hook ready for use. In escaping by means of a rope, a towel should be held in the hands to prevent them from being torn on the coarse rope. The rope should be firmly tied to a heavy piece of furniture. It is a terrible thing to lose one’s belongings in a fire, but clothes can be purchased again and human life cannot, so value life before personal belongings, let them be ever so precious. There are always from eight to ten inches of pure air next to the floor. If one is suffocating with smoke, and can remember to kneel for a breath of fresh air, there is chance for escape. Do not rush toward a hot flame or into dense smoke, the heat causes suffocation as soon as it enters the lungs and one is liable to faint.