FIRE ESCAPES.
IT is said that among the brilliant fruits of American genius which repose in silence in that mausoleum in Washington known as the Patent Office, there are more than one thousand fire-escapes, so called. Some of the later ones, as described in the Scientific American, are more or less meritorious, but it is obvious to the most undiscerning eyes that the fire-escape of the future has not yet made its appearance. In examining some of the earlier inventions it is difficult to see wherein they are more expeditious or less dangerous than the nasal protuberance which all who are familiar with the Greek Anthology will remember. Amongthe minor contributions in that flowery collection is one by Leonidas of Alexandria, translated as follows, according to the Baltimore Underwriter -.
“ The house of Zenogenes was in flames ; and he labored much while seeking to let himself down from above the door-way. But he did not succeed in putting planks together, until at last bethinking himself, he made use of the nose of Antimachus as a ladder, and escaped.”
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