5. Fire alarm connection, and date of last inspection by local fire department.

6. Number and location of hydrants and standpipes; length, character and condition of hose and how often tested.

7. Number and location of liquid chemical fire extinguishers or other apparatus for extinguishing fires.

8. Organization and practice of fire drills among employees and of dismissal drills by inmates.

9. Whether night patrol service is established with use of watchman's clock.

10. Presence of swinging gas jets in proximity to woodwork, etc., and the protection of woodwork or other combustible material in the vicinity of heating or lighting fixtures.

11. Presence of rubbish, particularly in attics, cellars or storerooms, or of oils or other inflammable liquids, and care given

same.

An institution found to be complying with the law and satisfactorily equipped in the above particulars is considered by the Board to be adequately protected.

II.

Suggestions for Protection of Buildings and Inmates Against Fire.

1. Buildings of charitable institutions should be of fireproof construction if possible.

2. Interior stairways and elevator and dumbwaiter shafts should be made fireproof, and the stairs should be sufficiently broad to permit all persons on floors above to pass down without delay.

3. Outside iron stairways of easy descent and connecting with each dormitory or ward should be provided to furnish an alternate means of escape in case the interior stairways and elevators are cut off by fire. These should be properly guarded and provided with handrails.

4. Direct signal connection with the fire department is most desirable. Telephone is not considered as satisfactory as an electric alarm connection.

5. Interior facilities should include a sufficient number of liquid chemical fire extinguishers for prompt use, especially for fires in their incipient stage, and buildings of more than two stories should have standpipes with sufficient hose attached to reach every part of each floor. The hose should be tested at regular intervals and the extinguishers recharged annually, the date of recharging being recorded on a tag attached to each extinguisher.

6. Regular fire drills for employees should include the use of the apparatus for extinguishing fires and the orderly removal of inmates, particularly those who are helpless. Where their physical condition permits, inmates should practice dismissal drills in order to accustom them to the work of rapid and orderly removal from the buildings and thus prevent confusion or excitement in case of a real emergency.

7. A night watchman should patrol the building during the entire period when the day employees are off duty, and should be required to register his visits to different parts of the institution by means of a watchman's clock.

8. Stationary gas jets should be protected by globes or wire screens, and all swinging jets made stationary. All woodwork in proximity to stoves or other heating or lighting fixtures should be protected by asbestos or metal.

9. All parts of the building, particularly cellars and attics, should be kept free from rubbish, and rags used in oiling floors, etc., should either be destroyed after using or kept in metal cans or boxes. Lint should not be permitted to accumulate under laundry drying racks.

10. Great care should be exercised in the storage and handling of paints, oils and other inflammable liquids. Oil stoves and lamps should not be used if avoidable and should never be filled or trimmed after dark; if oil is used it should be of the highest fire test, and should be stored in a detached building.

11. A high grade of safety matches should be used.

12. Ashes should never be collected in wooden barrels or boxes, but in metal cans.

13. Fire escapes, stairways, halls, passageways, or exits should never be encumbered with boxes, tables, or other articles, as in the event of fire these would interfere with the escape of the inmates and hinder the firemen in their work.

III.

Suggestions for Suitable Fire Escapes.

In view of the recent losses of life in fires in charitable institutions by reason of the absence of escapes or because the escapes provided were defective or unsuitable, the following suggestions as to what kind of escapes is best adapted to charitable institutions are submitted:

1. FOR HOMES FOR CHILDREN, INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS, REFORMATORIES, ETC.

Qutside iron stairways not less than twenty-four inches wide, properly guarded and provided with suitable handrails.

Such escapes to connect with all the dormitories or sleepingrooms by exits suitable for the needs of the inmates, preferably doors. All approaches to escape to be kept free and clear, and properly separated from interior stairways and shafts.

Stairs to be placed at an angle for easy descent, not to exceed 50 degrees; preferably 45 degrees, from the horizontal.

Treads to be not less than six and one-half inches wide, and preferably from seven and one-half to nine inches wide.

Risers or spaces between treads to be not more than ten inches for older children or eight inches for children under ten years of

age.

Stairway escapes may be broken into short flights or may extend the full length of each story of the building.

Ladder escapes are of little value except for the larger boys, and as a means of ingress for firemen.

2. FOR HOSPITALS, HOMES FOR THE AGED, ETC.

Stairway escapes, as above, but of greater width-not less than three feet and at an angle of not more than 45 degrees, are recommended, and the platforms and approaches to be wide enough to permit handling an operative case on a stretcher or mattress without injury.

Such escapes to connect with all wards and be accessible from all private rooms. Approaches to the escapes to be through doors which should open freely rather than through windows which make exit difficult at best. Both approaches and escapes to be kept free and clear.

IV.

Fire and Dismissal Drills.

1. HOMES FOR CHILDREN, INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS, REFORMATORIES AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS WITH ACTIVE INMATES.

The kind of drill recommended for homes for children is that required by section 730 of the Education Law, chapter 140, Laws of 1910. Under the provisions of that law the principal of every public or private school in the State having more than 100 pupils is required to instruct and train the pupils in his school so that they may be able to leave the building in the shortest possible time without confusion or panic. The children in homes should in like manner be practiced in rapid dismissal exercises, using both the interior stairways and the outside escapes. The caretakers and other employees should be assigned to certain stations in connection with this drill and carefully instructed as to their duties in emergencies. The caretakers of the children under five years of age should be most carefully instructed and drilled in the best method for removing their charges from the building promptly.

The following is an outline of plan for the organization of a fire drill similar to that practiced in a number of homes in this State:

Organization for Dismissal Drill.

1. The superintendent, or in his absence the matron, head teacher, or engineer in this order to be in chief command and to have direction of the drill as a whole.

2. The head officer of each department of the home to be responsible for his department to the superintendent or his substitute and to be in command of that department.

3. Each caretaker and teacher to be in command of and responsible for the children in his dormitory or class room (under the head officer of his department).

4. The children in each dormitory or class room to be organized into squads of ten, one of the older children (captain) being in charge of each squad.

A plan of organization for such a drill may be shown graphically as follows: