Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 47.djvu/624

608 jacket is pulled over this, and as many more as may be desired, the heaviest hose being four or five ply. The fabric is treated with chemicals that it may be rot-proof, and the rubber lining is either made by cementing in a sheet of rubber, thereby making one long seam the length of the hose, or by a patented process, in making a seamless lining from melted rubber. The number of companies in the United States engaged either wholly or partly in the manufacture of rubber or fabric fire hose is too numerous to mention.

Fire hose must not only stand the heavy pressure of the powerful streams, but it must not be affected by the wear and tear of being drawn over rough pavements and around various corners while the heavy pressure is on. It must not absorb so much water



from the outside that it becomes too heavy to handle, nor should it be of a nature to allow mud to adhere to its surface. The interior lining must be absolutely smooth, as the slightest friction materially affects the force of the stream. Fire hose has to be washed in a washing machine, and then dried by hanging in hose towers, after every fire, otherwise the length of its life would be greatly lessened.

Suction hose is of large diameter. It is made of heavy rubber, and wound either inside or out with round or flat wire to give it strength. When water is drawn from a hydrant the suction hose is coupled to an opening of its size, but a large strainer is always carried to use when taking water from the harbor, lakes, etc.

There are a great many different hose couplings in use, both screw and snap. The Rhode Island Coupling Company, of Providence, and many other firms engaged in the manufacture of other apparatus, furnish the screw couplings. The National Coupling Company, of Pomona, Cal., has introduced a very serviceable