While researching the early roller coasters (known as switchback railways), I ran across an interesting blurb about a fire escape that was proving to be a great rival to the switchback railways of the day!
A new fire escape in England is a sort of a chair that slides down ropes, and the host of the house possessing it often entertains his guests by permitting them to take a ride. At the Italian exhibition in London it is expected to prove a great rival to the switchback railway. - Wilmington Messenger, July 20, 1888, page 6.
And now I have some new research to conduct!