Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/680

 An Automatic Animal Fire Escape

��BY the use of an automatic, animal fire escape just presented by a Western inventor it is possible to clear any size sta- ble of animals in five short seconds. In the operation of this fire escape the element of chance does not enter. It has a positive ac- tion, and as all working parts are controlled by grav- ity there is nothing to get out of order at the critical mo- ment. The value of an apparatus of this kind will be realized by anyone, for a fire seldom destroys a stable of any considerable size without a num- of the animals be- ing lost. This re- sults generally from the fact that the animals, frightened by the fire and smoke, become unmanageable and, if loosened, rush into the flames. The new device does away with all danger from this source and in addition provides a means of escape.

When the fire escape is to be arranged, the stalls are located along the sides of the stable. Each is arranged with a door in the exterior wall, which is provided with a mechanism which at the same time that the door is held shut, holds up a gate above the open end of the stall, or behind the animal when the stall is oc- cupied. A manger with collapsible parts is mounted in proper relation to the stall and a special halter is provided. Each manger is made up of two distinct parts — a front and a bottom. In the edges of these where they unite when in normal position is located a slot or groove, in the form of a one-inch hole, half of which is in the bottom and half in the front. Through this hole is run a one-inch rope, with a knot at its lower end and a ring at its upper end. When

���Diagram of the automatic horse fire escape. A gate drops, the manger collapses, and the halter is loosened when the outside fire-es- cape door of the stable is opened

��the manger collapses, the rope is in- stantly released and the animal freed. All working parts are operated by grav- ity. When the door, which is hung on gravity hinges, is unlatched it falls open, thereby al- lowing the bar which supports the rear gate to roll forward. This re- leases the gate, which drops, pre- venting the animal from backing into the stable. As the door is opened still farther the manger collapses and falls to the floor, the opening of the door having released the supporting rods. One large business house in Los Angel- es, at the stables of which company the accompanying il- lustrations were made, has a series of ten of these escapes in one row. By a single operation, performed by hand or auto- matically, all of the escapes may be trip- ped, as shown on the opposite page.

If a fire breaks out, the device works automatically. This result is accom- plished by running a cable along the in- terior of the building. This cable is cut into short pieces and connected with fusible links, these being placed as near to the woodwork as possible. From the in- terior the cable is run through the outside wall close to the lever which operates the fire escape doors. The end of the cable is then attached to a trip to which a weight is fastened, this weight also being connected to the lever which releases the door latches. In the event of a fire the cable separates, on account of one of the fusible links being melted, this releasing the trip which allows the weight to pull down the lever and which, in turn,, automatically releases all of the fire doors. This device is the invention of John Betty of Los Angeles.

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