The Kirker Bender spiral tube fire-escape is the best and safest. In one minute 200 persons can slide through the Kirker Bender, to absolute safety. It is a very expensive fire escape, but expense should not be considered when building fire-escapes. There should be a fire-alarm box in every hall. Should a fire occur, on a floor where there is no fire-alarm box, a messenger would have to be dispatched to the office before the fire company could be notified. Some hotels have no fire-box at all. The fire-box being located a block away from the hotel. Fire-boxes can be put in hotels with very little expense. It is an old saying--"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." This is especially true in the case of fire prevention. If the following precautions are taken, fires from accident or spontaneous combustion seldom occur. _Fire Prevention._ Keep your hotel clean and never allow rubbish, such as paper, rags, cobwebs, old clothing and boxes to accumulate in closets and unused rooms. Don't allow coal oil lamps to be used by women patrons for the purpose of heating curling irons. Never put up gas brackets so they can be swung against door casings or immediately under curtains. Never keep matches in any but metal or earthen safes. Never keep old woolen rags that have been used in oiling and cleaning furniture, or waxing floors, unless in a tin can with a tin lid. _Origin of Fires._ Fires are the results of accidents, of spontaneous combustion, and of design. If they have been accidental, the cause can generally be discovered, and it will be found, that they might have been prevented. Carelessness and negligence are the cause of over two-thirds of all fires. Electrical fires are caused from electric light wires lying against wood or iron, or coming in contact with water. A stream of water thrown on a heavily charged electric light wire will give a shock and may even kill the fireman holding the nozzle. This is one reason why the electric lights are cut off when a fire is raging and thus leaving people to grope their way out through darkness. All hotels should have hall-ways lighted by gas, and especially should a gas light with a red globe be placed in front of all fire escape windows. Should a fire occur at night the housekeeper should give orders to have all doors unlocked and the gas lighted in the halls. THE EVOLUTION OF THE HOUSEKEEPER.