Safety Ropes

The Press. Nov 24. 1947. P.2.

Sir, -In replying to the letter written by John L. Checkley in "The Press" this morning, I would like to say that his idea of ropes as a safety measure may be all right in theory. I was a nurse in training at the Nelson Hospital when our nurses' home was destroyed by fire on the morning of October 31, 1938. Each nurse had a fire escape in her bedroom, stapled to the floor, which only had to be thrown out of her window.

However, this was not practical as the fire commenced in the basement and the upper storey windows, being directly above the ground floor windows, did not permit of one ladder being used. Many were injured jumping for their lives. I wonder why some of the spectators at Tuesday's fire did not have the presence of mind to obtain mattresses or strong sheets from the store opposite? — Yours, etc.

CAROL RALPH-SMITH. November 21, 1947.