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Dangers and Emergencies

Horses Pulling at the Halter.

Many remedies have been proposed for curing this bad habit, but a simple and effective one is to discard the common halter, and get a broad, strong leather strap to buckle around the neck for a few inches below the cars. A horse may pull at this, but will soon give it up.

To Escape from or Go into a House on Fire.

Creep or crawl with your face near the ground, and although the room be full of smoke to suffocation, yet near the floor the air is pure, and may be breathed with safety. The best escape from upper windows is a knotted rope, but if a leap is unavoidable, then a bed should be thrown out first, or beds be placed by those outside for the purpose.

To Bring Horses out of a Stable on Fire.

Throw the harness or saddles to which they may have been accustomed, over the backs of the horses in this predicament, and they will come out of the stable as tractably as usual.

How to know whether a Horse has a Strong and Good Eye, or a Weak Eye, and likely to go Blind.

People generally turn a horse's head to a bright light to examine his eyes. You can know very little by this method what sort of an eye the horse has, unless it be a very defective one. You must examine the eye first, when the horse stands with his head to the manger. Look carefully at the pupil of the eye in a horse; it is of an oblong form; carry the size of the pupil in your mind, and turn the horse about, bring him to a bright light, and if in the bright light the pupil of the eye contracts and appears much smaller than it was in the darker light, then you may be sure the horse has a strong, good eye, but, provided the pupil remains nearly of the same size as it appeared in the darker light, the horse has a weak eye, therefore have nothing to do with him. There are contracting and dilating muscles in the eye, which will plainly show you in what state the eye is, whether it be a strong or a weak one.

How to Catch Wood-pigeons.

Wood-pigeons are very easily caught in hard weather, particularly when snow is on the ground.

You have but to sweep the snow on one side for about a dozen yards long and about 3 feet broad.

Lay about 20 small eel-hooks, fastened by a peg into the ground, and with a small bean on each; be sure you put the point of the hook only through the top of the bean and the barb standing quite out on the side, otherwise if the hook be totally buried in the bean, when the bird struggles he will pull the hook out of his throat.

I think as good a way as any is to punch 2 or 3 holes in horse-beans with an iron bodkin, and then boil them in some common gin; many will be so drunk that they cannot fly up; others will perch on the adjacent trees; watch them, and you will see them tumble down.

How to Catch Wild-fowl.

If you have a large pond or lake frequented by wild-fowl, in the shallow water, about 1 ft. deep, where you observe them feed, lay a few rabbittraps, with a few beans on the bridge of the trap, as big as your little finger and about 4 in. long, tying the string with a single knot exactly to the centre of the stick; then place that part of the string which is between the brick-bat and the short stick into the notch at the top of the long stick which is stuck in the bottom of the pond.

The short stick will prevent the weight of the brick-bat from drawing the string through the notch, and the hook will hang a few inches from the water and the brick-bat hang fast by the notch in the top of the stick. When the water-fowl takes the baited hook he pulls the stick and the brickbat, and the latter pulls him under water and drowns him.

Assistance to a Person in Danger of Drowning.

If the spectator is unable to swim, and can make the sufferer hear, he ought to direct him to keep his hands and arms under water until assistance comes; in the mean time throw towards him a rope, a pole, or any thing that may help to bring him ashore, or on board; he will eagerly seize whatever is placed within his reach; thus he may, perhaps, be rescued from his perilous situation.

But this desirable object appears attainable by the proper use of a man's hat and pocket handkerchief, which, being all the apparatus necessary, is to be used thus: Spread the handkerchief on the ground, or deck, and place a stiff hat, with the brim downwards, on the middle of it; then tie the handknots as near the centre of the crown as possible. kerchief round the hat, like a bundle, keeping the Now, by seizing the knots in one hand, and keeping the opening of the hat upwards, a person without knowing how to swim, may fearlessly plunge into the water, with whatever may be necessary to save the life of a fellow creature. The best manner in which an expert swimmer can lay hold of a person he wishes to save from sinking, is to grasp his arm firmly between the from clasping the swimmer in his arms, and thus shoulder and the elbow; this will prevent him forcing him under water, and, perhaps, causing him to sink with him.

To Estimate the Distance of a Thunder-cloud.

Sound travels at the rate of 1120 feet per second.

Count the number of seconds between the flash and the thunder, and multiply by 1120. By this means the distance of a cannon or blast of rocks may also be estimated. The pulse of a healthy adult beats about 70 times a minute.

To Escape the Effects of Lightning.

When persons happen to be overtaken by a thunder-storm, although they may not be terrified by the lightning, yet they naturally wish for shelter from the rain which usually attends it; and, therefore, if no house be at hand, generally take refuge under the nearest tree they can find.

But in doing this, they unknowingly expose themselves to a double danger; first, because their clothes being thus kept dry, their bodies are rendered more liable to injury - the lightning often passing harmless over a body whose surface is wet; and secondly, because a tree, or any elevated object, instead of warding off, serves to attract and conduct the lightning, which, in its passage to the under the water. This is a sure method of catch-ground, frequently rends the trunks or branches, ing them. Where the water is about 2 ft. deep, put a stick in about 1 foot above the water; cut a slit at the top of the stick; tie a strong piece of pack-thread round a brick-bat, or to a large stone; let the string, after having tied it round the stone, be about a foot longer; to the other end fasten a small eel-hook, baited with a piece of bullock's lights, sheep's paunch, or a horse-bean; then about 3 or 4 in. from the brick-bat fasten a stick nearly and kills any person or animal who happens to be close to it at the time. Instead of seeking protection, then, by retiring under the shelter of a tree, hay-stack, pillar, wall, or hedge, the person should either pursue his way to the nearest house, or get to a part of the road or field which has no high object that can draw the lightning towards it, and remain there until the storm has subsided.

It is particularly dangerous to stand near leaden