Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

FIREMEN OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 223 by the private brigade formed of the royal domestics. The fire precautions at Bucking- ham Palace and Windsor Castle are on a still more elaborate scale, each man having his recognised station, to which he repairs without delay upon the least alarm. One of the most interesting developments of private fire brigade training is to be found at Newnham College. Each of the three halls has its own divisional brigade, with a captain, two lieutenants, and sixteen members, and the women students are able to point with satisfaction to the fact that they have been able to extinguish two fires within their own domain without help from outside. They have no engine, as the hydrants within each hall suffice for all emergencies, and the fire drill is an interesting and attractive physical exercise on its own account, apart from its ulterior object. It has been estimated that the total annual loss from fire throughout the world averages the huge sum of £45,000,000. Of this it is generally said that a fourth represents the loss in the United Kingdom alone, and the importance of fire fighting as a national industry will thus be clearly seen. The expert officials are desirous of some reform of the statute law, in order to improve the status of firemen and to relieve them of some disabilities. Thus, with respect to the damage done by voluntary brigades when engaged in fire extinction, the law does not protect them from the liability to an action for indemnity. The use of the brigade uniform and helmet by bogus brigades should be forbidden in the same way as the unauthorised use of the Army and Navy uniform. It is believed that firemen would welcome the possession of a badge of efficiency, conferred after an independent inspection. And the liability to be called off at a critical time to perform jury service is another anomaly which ex- perienced officers wish to get altered. As the local bodies, which are still in the infancy of their work, settle down to the serious duties of reform, the imperfections which at present abound in many parts of the realm will gradually be removed. In no direction is this more needed to be done promptly than in that of guarding the national wealth against the insidious foe to combat which the firemen and their appliances were called into existence. Brian Morris. Photo: Humby & Co., Southampton. THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL’S FIRE FLOAT ALPHA.