A little bit of investigation revealed that this illustration was taken from the U.S. patent for the "toilet snorkel." Not a joke. You see, in high-rise building fires, many would-be survivors end up dying from smoke inhalation. The inventor envisioned this handy device as a way for trapped apartment dwellers to get to a source of relatively fresh air that would enable them to survive long enough for rescuers to extricate them. I have my doubts about the breathability of sewer gasses, but I guess it beats the noxious fumes from the burning of modern synthetic construction materials and furnishings.
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