Commenting on a recent burning casualty in Philadelphia by which a young lady lost her life, the Public Ledger makes these pertinent observations:— "The first thing to teach a girl in this matter is that fire makes headway more rapidly in burning clothes when the endangered person is standing up. The difference in progress between a burning lamplighter of twisted paper, held in the hand perpendicularly, flame down, and the same paper laid flat on a marble hearth, can be seen in a moment. The first thing to do when clothing catches fire is to lie flat and cover up the flames, if there is nothing within reach to smother it. If, as it is probable, there was a bed in the room where Miss Manship was standing, getting into the bed, between the blankets, and rolling up in them would have been a sure way of putting out the fire in a burning skirt or sleeve. The worst, the very worst thing to do was to run down stairs. Opening the door made one draught, the flight down stairs another, and rushing out into the street, in the last frenzied moment, the worst of all. The impulse to get out of doors is very strange in all such cases, because within the house there are always means for putting out a fire, and outside there are none—rugs, rag carpet torn off the kitchen floor, a heavy overcoat, blankets from the beds, even pieces of bedside carpet, put round the person in the twinkling of an eye, while water pails and pitchers are there to hand, ready to be emptied. In every case let the person whose clothes or hair has caught fire throw herself flat on the floor and roll upon the flame. If there is anything in the room, of thick woolens239or carpets to smother it, even a gossamer waterproof cloak, snatch these and smother the fire while calling for help. If the fire has caught the hair, bury the head in bedclothes. Fire cannot burn without air, and by shutting out all air from the flames, they must go out. But an open door fans the flames, and a standing position gives them headway. Girls are much more liable, from their long floating hair, their cotton aprons, and altogether thinner and more loosely bouffant, dress to be set on fire than boys, whose stout cloth jackets are not easily ignited. The rules for putting out fire in burning clothing may not be taught in the Normal School, but every teacher ought to know them, and so thoroughly that even the fright of mounting flames will not drive them out of mind."