Fire drill

“ When each worker in the establishment knows that in case of a fire he can leave the building with speed and perfect safety, he has absolutely no worry or distraction from the fire standpoint.
Fire protection should include not only seeing that the building and all it contains are made as fire-proof as possible, and installing all possible devices for putting out a fire should one start, but also the fire drill. ”

“ The hand fire-drill consists of a stick like an arrow-shaft cut to a blunt point, which is twirled like a chocolate-muller between the hands (shifted up when they get too far down) with such speed and pressure as to bore a hole into an under-piece of wood, till the charred dust made by the boring takes fire. ”

“ And, so conservative is cult, this must be done, not with the modern device of matches, or even with flint and steel, but by the primitive method of causing friction in dry work. Such fire is known as ‘need-fire’ or ‘forced fire,’ and is produced in various ways, by rubbing two pieces of wood together, by turning a drill in a solid block, or by rapidly rotating a wheel upon an axle. ”

“ There's a yard at the back of the building nigh on to a hundred feet square, which is put up in such shape that water can be used the same as you would at a fire, and here drills go on like this, for instance: An alarm is sent out for a certain company when they least expect it, and the men find themselves called into headquarters to show what they can do. All that you're going to see, lad, and talking about getting points, why, you can learn more there in one exhibition drill than you could at forty fires, 'cause you're understanding just how the thing is going to be done. ”

“ In order to obtain fire they use the fire drill, and it is produced by twirling rapidly between the hands a round dry stick passed through a hole in a plank. A bit of bruised dry grass serves as tinder. ”

“ It is tied to the drill with a thong of buckskin when not in use (fig. 7) . The drill is like the usual one, just described. This is the common form of the Pai-Ute apparatus. The small, two-holed hearth of rounded form, and the shortened, spliced drill are for convenience of carrying, this kind being used by hunters while away from the lodges. Mr. S. J. Hare says that the men do not usually make the fire, except when out on a hunting excursion. At the lodge it is the squaw’s duty to make the fire when it is needed.
Fig. 8. Fire-making Set. ”

“ IN THE STABLES.
It is now nearly mid-day, and we turn to see the fire-drill of the recruits, who, clad in slops, practise all the necessary and requisite work which alone can render them fit for the business. They are thus employed from nine o'clock to mid-day, and from two till four p.m. During these five hours the squads are exercised in the art of putting the ladders and escapes on the wagons which convey them to the scene of the fire. The recruit must learn how to raise the heavy machine by his own efforts, by means of a rope rove through a ring-bolt. ”

“ New fire is made by desperate and painful exertion, by three men seated on the ground facing each other and violently drilling the end of a stick into a hard block of wood by rolling 550 it between the hands, each one catching it in turn from the others without allowing the motion to stop until smoke, and at last a spark of fire is seen and caught in a piece of spunk, when there is great rejoicing in the crowd.” [19] The desperate exertion was not necessary, except in imitation of the Zuñi fashion of wetting the drill to create sacred fire. ”

“ When fire is to be lighted by means of this implement, the lower part of the drill pin is daubed over with a little train-oil, one foot holds the light-stock firm against the ground, the bowstring is put round the drill pin, the left hand presses the pin with the drill block against the light-stock, and the bow is carried backwards and forwards, not very rapidly, but evenly, steadily, and uninterruptedly, until fire appears. ”

“ In acrobatic fashion the Paris firemen are compelled to climb ropes, jump hurdles, balance themselves in mid-air on frail wooden supports, perform on horizontal bars, execute a kind of "setting-up" drill en masse, and last, but not least, climb up one of the walls of the courtyard, holding on by their finger-tips and the edges of their boots to little crevices in the wall, and falling, if they should slip, into a pile of sand at the bottom. In addition to all this they have the regulation hose, ladder, and life-saving drills of all other fire-departments. ”

“ In combat, shots which graze the enemy's trench or position and thus reduce the effectiveness of his fire have the approximate value of hits; such shots only, or actual hits, contribute toward fire superiority.
Fire discipline implies that, in a firing line without leaders, each man retains his presence of mind and directs effective fire upon the proper target. ”

“ The attack which halts to open fire at extreme range (over 1,200 yards) is not likely ever to reach its destination. Every effort should be made, by using cover or inconspicuous formations, or by advancing the firing line as a whole, to arrive within 800 yards of the enemy before opening fire. ”

“ How to make Small Drills.—Then, again, to make small drills of steel wire, use the lamp for heating and tempering. If a small drill be broken, draw the temper in the lamp preparatory to forming it anew. Drills of larger size may be hardened in the forge fire, brightened by grinding or rubbing on a piece of fine emery cloth, and the temper readily drawn in the lamp. The same process may be applied to tempering small screw taps. Small screws can be readily blued in the same manner. ”

“ In advancing the attack, advanced elements of the firing line or detachments in front of it should not open fire except in defense or to clear the foreground of the enemy. Fire on the hostile main position should not be opened until all or nearly all of the firing line can join in the fire. ”

“ The ladies object to the performance, as they consider that they do not look well dangling on a rope. However, as the people wish to stick to the semper paratus motto of their bottles, the fire drill is not neglected. If the man with a red head is not killed, he receives profuse apologies for his hair having been mistaken for a conflagration. I did not see a fire drill.
We left Cambridge very early next morning. The conveyance was of the usual stagecoach type. Mac and I had inside seats, I being on the weather-side and he on the lee-side of the vehicle. ”

“ With the intrenching tool, troops can quickly throw up a low parapet about 3 feet thick which will furnish considerable cover against rifle fire, but scarcely any against shrapnel. Such cover is frequently of value to an attack that is temporarily unable to continue. In time, and particularly at night, it may be developed into a deep fire or cover trench. ”

“ Both of these are best obtained when the firing line is as dense as practicable, while leaving the men room for the free use of their rifles.
If the men are too widely separated, direction and control are very difficult, often impossible, and the intensity of fire is slight in proportion to the front occupied. ”

“ In an advance by rushes, leaders of troops in firing positions are responsible for the delivery of heavy fire to cover the advance of each rushing fraction. Troops are trained to change slightly the direction of fire so as not to endanger the flanks of advanced portions of the firing line. ”

“ One person works the "drill-stick" with a rude bow, and with his other hand holds a piece of stone or of wood above it, both to steady it and to give the requisite pressure--gentle at first, and increasing judiciously up to the critical moment when the fire is on the point of bursting out. Another man puts his hands on the lower piece of wood, the "fire-block," to steady it, and holds a piece of tinder ready to light it as soon as fire is produced. If a serious emergency should occur, it is by no means hopeless to obtain fire after this method. ”

“ The character of the target influences both volume and accuracy. Larger dimensions, greater visibility, and shorter range increase the rate of fire; greater density increases the effect.
(d) Training and discipline have an important bearing on the rate or volume of fire, but their greatest influence is upon accuracy.
The firing efficiency, of troops is reduced by fatigue and adverse psychological influences.
(e) Fire direction and control improve collective accuracy. The importance of fire direction increases rapidly with the range. Control exerts a powerful influence at all ranges. ”

“ It is neatly finished. The drill is also of cedar and bears the marks of the use of the thong; the top has also been used in the socket of a rest. The drill approaches in length those used for twirling between the hands by the Indians.
While the Aleutians use flint and steel, or a stone containing quartz and pyrites, struck against another stone, they still make use of the four-part drill at certain times. ”

“ It is easy to listen to such statements, but it is another thing to stand on that narrow ledge and gaze contemplatively into the tiny sheet, twenty feet below.
Every possible method of saving life is the subject of a special set of drills, and all are constantly practised by all hands alike. They are designed to meet every possible contingency, and when lives are lost by fire it is generally attributable to delay in summoning the brigade.
STILL MORE NERVOUS WORK—JUMPING-SHEET DRILL, A 20-FEET DROP.
One of the most interesting systems of rescue is that in which the chair knot is used. ”

“ He operated on a piece of hard diorite an inch and three-eighths in thickness, and employed as a drilling agent a wooden wand of ash, or at times, of pine, in conjunction with sharp quartz sand. Attached to the wand was a heavy disc, to act as a fly-wheel, and an alternating rotatory motion was obtained by means of a bow and cord attached at its centre to the apex of the drilling-stock, and giving motion to it after the manner of a "pump-drill," such as is used by the Dacotahs [100] and Iroquois [101] for producing fire by friction, or what is sometimes called the Chinese drill. ”

“ The wooden drill for making fire by friction, which so many rude or ancient races are known to have used as their common household instrument, and which lasts on among the modern Hindus as the time-honoured sacred means of lighting the pure sacrificial flame, has been 76found surviving in Switzerland as a toy among the children, who made fire with it in sport, much as Equimaux would have done in earnest. ”

“ Hunting parties, says Mr. L. M. Turner, carry the drill to use when their matches run out. It takes two men to work it, one holding the hand rest and the other pulling the thong. The spindle is made of harder wood, so as to wear the light dust which ignites, from the hearth. A moment only is necessary to get fire; this is fed with tinder made of willow catkins and powdered charcoal. Sometimes, in order to get fire, they hold tinder at the mouth of a gun and ignite it by firing off a light charge of loose powder.
Fig. 41. Lower Piece and Spindle of Fire-making Set. ”

“ They are in the center, and the fire slot being cut into the rounded edge widens out below, so that the coal can drop down and get draught. The wood is quite soft, apparently being sap-wood of yew or cedar, while the drill-point is of the hardest wood obtainable. It is probable that sand is used on the drill. The hearth is 13 inches long, and the drill 26. ”

“ The drills are light enough to be easily erected and dismantled, and compact, so that they can be used in restricted and out-of-the way places, while their simplicity entails little special training on the part of the workman. With pneumatic and other power-drills the cost of piercing holes for explosive charges is reduced to less than one-quarter of that of "jumping" with a crowbar and sledgehammers. With the hand method two men are required, usually more; one man to hold, guide, and turn the drill ”

“ In the evening the drillers, with their powerful air-drills, bore a series of five or six six-foot 'shot-holes,' four along the roof, and two on each side for the 'rib-shots.' Then a third crew of men, the 'shot-firers,' fill the deep drill-hole with long cartridges of coarse black powder, and blast down the coal, which falls broken and crumbled into the cut prepared by the machine-men. ”

“ Down the valley sudden flashes of light and puffs of smoke that gracefully volumed upwards, followed by the sullen roar of artillery, revealed a contest between the advancing and retreating forces. That fire-lit scene must be a life picture to the fortunate beholders. Directly in front and on the left, thousands of camp fires burning in the rear of stacks made from line-of-battle, blazed in parallel rows, regular as the gas-lights of the avenues of a great city, and illumining by strange contrasts of light and shade the animated forms that encircled them. ”

“ Slowly but gradually, inch by inch, the improvised drill worked its way to the air and life. Just as I thought my very last energy expended, and when the handle of the drill lacked an inch of being inserted its entire length, the end broke the surface of the ground over my head, and air, blessed air, came rushing into the aperture. ”

“ We are now ready to temper our drill, and we must exercise a little care that the steel is not burnt and that the drill is not bent or warped when hardening. The flame of the alcohol lamp should be reduced as small as possible, or otherwise the steel may become overheated and lose all its good qualities. If needles are used for making drills there is a great liability of their warping when hardening, but when a larger piece of wire is used there is not much danger, if care is exercised in introducing the drill that it goes into the compound straight and point foremost. ”