Enquire Within Upon Everything Part 122

Avoid hurry and confusion; no person except a fireman, friend, or neighbour, should be admitted.

1386. Dress on Fire.

If a Lady's Dress takes Fire, she should endeavour to roll herself in a rug, carpet, or the first woollen garment she meets with.

1387. Handy Baize.

It is a Good Precaution to have always at hand a large piece of baize, to throw over a female whose dress is burning, or to be wetted and thrown over a fire that has recently broken out.

[LITTLE STICKS KINDLE THE FIRE, BUT GREAT ONES PUT IT OUT.]

1388. Use Pearlash.

A Solution of Pearlash in Water, thrown upon a fire, extinguishes it instantly. The proportion is a quarter of a pound, dissolved in some hot water, and then poured into a bucket of common water.

1389. Buckets and Mops.

It is recommended to Householders to have two or three fire-buckets and a carriage-mop with a long handle near at hand; they will be found essentially useful in case of fire.

1390. Check before Retiring.

All householders, but particularly hotel, tavern, and inn-keepers, should exercise a wise precaution by directing that the last person up should look over the premises previous to going to rest, to ascertain that all fires are safe and lights extinguished.

1391. To Extinguish a Fire in a Chimney (2).

So many serious fires have been caused by chimneys catching fire, and not being quickly extinguished, that the following method of doing this should be made generally known. Throw some powdered brimstone on the fire in the grate, or ignite some on the hob, and then put a board or something in the front of the fireplace, to prevent the fumes descending into the room. The vapour of the brimstone, ascending the chimney, will then effectually extinguish the fire.

1392. To Extinguish a Fire in a Chimney (3).

To Extinguish a Fire in the chimney, besides any water at hand, throw on it salt, or a handful of flour of sulphur, as soon as you can obtain it; keep all the doors and windows tightly shut, and hold before the fireplace a blanket, or some woollen article, to exclude the air.

1393. Escaping from a Fire.

In escaping from a fire, creep or crawl along the room with your face close to the ground. Children should be early taught how to press out a spark when it happens to reach any part of their dress, and also that running into the air will cause it to blaze immediately.

1394. Don't Read in Bed.

Reading in bed at night should be avoided, as, besides the danger of an accident, it never fails to injure the eyes.

1395. Warming a Bed.

To heat a bed at a moment's notice, throw a little salt on the hot coals in the warming-pan, and suffer it to burn for a minute previous to use.

1396. No Plant Life.

Flowers and shrubs should be excluded from a bed-chamber.

1397. Swimming.

Every person should endeavour to acquire the power of swimming. The fact that the exercise is a healthful accompaniment of bathing, and that lives may be saved by it, even when least expected, is a sufficient argument for the recommendation. The art of swimming is, in reality, very easy. The first consideration is not to attempt to learn to swim too hastily. That is to say, you must not expect to succeed in your efforts to swim, until you have become accustomed to the water, and have overcome your repugnance to the coldness and novelty of bathing. Every attempt will fail until you have acquired a certain confidence in the water, and then the difficulty will soon vanish.

[WHAT THOU CANST DO THYSELF, COMMIT NOT TO ANOTHER.]

1398. Dr. Franklin's Advice to Swimmers.

"The only obstacle to improvement in this necessary and life-preserving art is fear: and it is only by overcoming this timidity that you can expect to become a master of the following acquirements. It is very common for novices in the art of swimming to make use of cork or bladders to a.s.sist in keeping the body above water; some have utterly condemned the use of them; however, they may be of service for supporting the body while one is learning what is called the stroke, or that manner of drawing in and striking out the hands and feet that is necessary to produce progressive motion.

But you will be no swimmer till you can place confidence in the power of the water to support you; I would, therefore, advise the acquiring that confidence in the first place; especially as I have known several who, by a little practice, necessary for that purpose, have insensibly acquired the stroke, taught, as it were, by nature.

The practice I mean is this: choosing a place where the water deepens gradually, walk coolly into it till it is up to your breast; then turn round your face to the sh.o.r.e, and throw an egg into the water between you and the sh.o.r.e; it will sink to the bottom and be easily seen there if the water be clear. It must lie in the water so deep that you cannot reach to take it up but by diving for it. To encourage yourself in order to do this, reflect that your progress will be from deep to shallow water, and that at any time you may, by bringing your legs under you, and standing on the bottom, raise your head far above the water; then plunge under it with your eyes open, which must be kept open on going under, as you cannot open the eyelids for the weight of water above you; throwing yourself toward the egg, and endeavouring by the action of your hands and feet against the water to get forward, till within reach of it.

In this attempt you will find that the water buoys you up against your inclination; that it is not so easy to sink as you imagine, and that you cannot, but by active force, get down to the egg. Thus you feel the power of water to support you, and learn to confide in that power, while your endeavours to overcome it, and reach the egg, teach you the manner of acting on the water with your feet and hands, which action is afterwards used in swimming to support your head higher above the water, or to go forward through it.

1399. continued...

"I would the more earnestly press you to the trial of this method, because I think I shall satisfy you that your body is lighter than water, and that you might float in it a long time with your mouth free for breathing, if you would put yourself into a proper posture, and would be still, and forbear struggling; yet, till you have obtained this experimental confidence in the water, I cannot depend upon your having the necessary presence of mind to recollect the posture, and the directions I gave you relating to it. The surprise may put all out of your mind.

1400. continued...

"Though the legs, arms, and head of a human body, being solid parts, are specifically somewhat heavier than fresh water, as the trunk, particularly the upper part, from its hollowness, is so much lighter than water, so the whole of the body, taken altogether, is too light to sink wholly under water, but some part will remain above until the lungs become filled with water, which happens when a person, in the fright, attempts breathing while the mouth and nostrils are under water.

1401. continued...

"The legs and arms are specifically lighter than salt water, and will be supported by it, so that a human body cannot sink in salt water, though the lungs were filled as above, but from the greater specific gravity of the head. Therefore a person throwing himself on his back in salt water, and extending his arms, may easily lie so as to keep his mouth and nostrils free for breathing; and, by a slight motion of his hand, may prevent turning, if he should perceive any tendency to it.

1402. continued...

"In fresh water if a man throw himself on his back near the surface, he cannot long continue in that situation, but by proper action of his hands on the water; if he use no such action, the legs and lower part of the body will gradually sink till he come into an upright position, in which he will continue suspended, the hollow of his breast keeping the head uppermost.

1403. continued...