How Charlie Chaplin used groundbreaking visual effects to shoot the death-defying roller skate scene in Modern Times (1936)

It's exceedingly rare to see floor plans with holes in the floors nowadays. Back before air conditioning, during weather there would be an updraft through the holes and out through a skylight above while cool air (or at least moving air) would rush in through the windows. Of course in a fire these air circulation features would quickly turn the whole building into a roaring chimney. And no amount of water or sand buckets filled with cigarette butts, or carbon tetrachloride bombs, would make a difference at that point.