Appendix
Description of the Plan and Section of Fireproof Warehouse
The photo-lithographs of a fireproof warehouse are from drawings by Mr. E. Hoole, architect; and it will be seen that these concise designs embody the principles enunciated in the preceding chapters.
A building for the reception of combustible goods must not only be constructed of materials that will not burn, but must be so built that it will remain uninjured, even if its contents are destroyed by fire. Like a furnace, it must be made to contain a fire; and it is only a building which, under such circumstances, maintains its strength, that is entitled to be termed fireproof.
In the accompanying plan and section, brick is proposed as the material for the construction of the walls and floors. These are so arranged as to divide the building into eighteen separate compartments, each of which is so completely cut off from those which surround it, that a fire originating in any one of them might burn itself out without being able to spread to the next one.
The interior of each compartment is so constructed that it will not be damaged by the combustion of its contents. It is assumed that it will be subjected to intense and continued heat; and the same precautions are taken to secure the stability of the structure and protect it from injury as would be adopted in building a furnace or in setting a boiler. Each compartment is lined with fire-brick, which is here and there attached to the walls to keep it in position, but not sufficiently to communicate the heat it may receive.
Between the fire-brick lining and the building itself an air space is left, which the heat cannot traverse. This lining bears no part of the weight, either of the building or of its contents; and consequently, however hot it may become, it cannot be crushed or distorted, having only its own weight to sustain. This fire-brick lining is set in fire-clay.
Iron columns filled with concrete support the vaulting of the various floors, and are protected by a casing of fire-brick, between which and the column an air space is left. In warehouses in which the brick casing of the columns is likely to be damaged by the shifting of the goods it can itself be protected by a covering of sheet-iron. But this, of course, is no additional safeguard against the action of fire.
The thrust of the vaulting is counteracted by iron tie-bars embedded in the brickwork below the flooring of each compartment; the ends of the bars are well turned up and down in the external walls, besides being connected to the brickwork near the base of each column. It will be seen that all parts of the building which have to sustain any weight are protected from any great change of temperature, and that all iron-work is especially screened from it.
In constructing the staircase the same precautions are adopted. A wall carried up the centre affords a springing for the arches carrying the steps and landings, which are constructed entirely of brick, and may be covered either with tiles, stone, or even wooden treads, if desired. The thrust of the arches carrying the steps is overcome by building in a tie-bar above each arch, which thus protects it from any contact with fire.
In order to prevent the staircase from acting as a flue in case of fire, and causing a draught of air to rush through the parts of the building opening into it, one side of it is left open to the external air, being only enclosed by a light arcade of open arches on each floor. Thus it gains the advantage of an outside staircase, all the doors leading to it being treated as external doors. The lift is similarly treated.
Double iron doors, lined or cased with heat-repelling material, separate the various compartments on each floor from the staircase and from each other. These doors are so arranged that they can be closed from the external balconies, and thus any compartment in which a fire occurs can be isolated without the necessity of entering it, or indeed of entering the building.
The windows are closed by external sliding shutters, running upon rails projecting from the outside face of the walls. These shutters are so constructed that they can be opened by the firemen from the outside; and easy access is given to them by the balconies, which are carried round the building at the level of every floor. Iron balconies are shown on the plan and section, since in most cases the heat issuing from the windows will not be sufficient to affect its strength; but where very inflammable goods are to be stored it will be best to corbel out in the brickwork, and to arch from corbel to corbel to form the balconies. Permanent means of access to the exterior of every opening in the walls is a most important provision, allowing any part of the building to be inspected independently, and fire discovered or extinguished, without opening the doors of the adjoining compartments.
The roof is nearly flat, having but fall enough to carry off the water. It may be made water-tight by a layer of asphalte, and then paved with tiles; but a flat roof is not an essential feature of fireproof construction, since, if the ceiling be vaulted in brick, as shown, a roof of any pitch may be constructed above it, framed entirely of iron, and covered with slates tied by copper wire to iron laths, or with metal tiles. It is obvious that nothing combustible must be stored in the space between the roof and the ceiling.
A tank is shown at one angle of the roof, to contain a supply of water in case of fire, and it can be kept full by the ordinary means of supply of the neighbourhood. If a portion of the top storey can be given up for the purpose, the rain-water of the roof can be stored without incurring a water-rate. From the tank, pipes are conducted outside the building and furnished with unions near the windows of each compartment; so that a hose-pipe can be instantly attached by anyone standing in the balcony, and the whole contents of the tank discharged into any of the compartments, without the building being entered.
In the case of a fire occurring in any compartment, two methods of proceeding are available. The compartment can be isolated and completely shut up until the fire either burns itself out or is extinguished for want of air; or the shutters can be opened, and a larger quantity of water can be discharged upon the burning goods, immediately the fire is discovered.
Patents for Locks and Safes
The want of a complete list of the patents taken out from time to time for Locks and Safes has induced me to publish the following tables, which have been most carefully compiled from the Patent Office records. It has been impossible to give even a summary of the claims made by each patentee of locks, on account of the space which would be thus occupied; but I have endeavoured to increase the usefulness of the lists by distinguishing between expired and unexpired patents. For the detailed particulars of each I must refer the enquirer to the specifications themselves, which can be purchased at the Patent Office, near Chancery Lane, London. An inspection of these will astonish many persons who may not be prepared to find the same inventions patented several times. But such is the case; and if patents are necessary as a protection to inventors (which I am somewhat inclined to doubt), the system adopted ought certainly to be such as would avoid the heavy fees ever being paid for an invention already secured to another person.
From the list of Patents for Locks I have omitted all such as are merely fastenings for railway-carriage doors, for hand-bags, pocket-books, &c., or for windows. I have also not included the ‘furniture’ of locks, i.e. the handles, spindles, &c., but all locks and latches used for doors will be found in the list.
The list of Patents for Safes includes all parts of, or apparatus connected with, Fire and Thief-resisting Safes.
Those marked * had either Provisional Protection only, or (in a few cases) were void for want of filing the complete specification. Those marked † lapsed at the end of three years from the date given in the lists; and those marked ‡ lapsed at the end of seven years. Those without any mark and not in italics ran their full term and expired at the end of fourteen years.
Only in the instances wherein the patentee’s name is in italics are the patents now (December 1st, 1874) in force.
In the list of Safes, wherever the patents are in some respects similar to previous inventions, a reference to such invention is appended.