New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1848-09-13
NEW-YORK IN SLICES.


looeae clear portrait Of peculiar class oi fren'n
uh oe ADOPT "a. appersnts what we ourselves have 4i
oa the general subject
In the famous Middle Ages, there was man
who separated himself from Society, put his head in
steel cask, his body steel ierknr and his feet in
strrups and pricked forth through Europe, with his
lance TO rescue damse que dragons and do the work
Of righteousness generaly-at his own charges. This
ancien, chevalcr for long time lived in history en-
example Of pure benevolence and dsnterested virtue,
without A successor In fact it was not till the Nine
tcenth Century and in the City Of New-York that one
having anything Ike rival claims was 10 be found
This more recent kneht.errant encases his head IN
lcathcrn cap his body in red flannel shirt and with
turned up trowsers and heavy boots rushes forth on
foot 70 do execution without hire or reward on that
fiery dragon Combustion itself The only pure spcci
men extan. Of the unadulteratcd Of bcnevocpce
OF modern times and the present mixed state Of 5occ
~. ia the Fireman What motive has he--what motive
can he have nness pure msdness) in rushing from his
bed a, midnight snatching at his clothes tumblng
down stairs and in half distracted condition pulling
foot for the Eneinohouse, tearing open its doors,
bus,lnc out the Machine aud Selling the rope hurry
ing away At the rate of ten miles hour, shouting
himself hosrse by the way, "fire-f-i-e-r-Inei
Fire Fire Throwing himself like salamsnder into
OF hours waking home to bed sweating like por'
poise,
We look upon Fireman in his disiuterestcd ntcr
rity as all that survives unnjured from the golden ese
of Man truly noble character dispte his To
be sure some little of mortal iIailties hang
about him. People OF a censorious turn have said he
loves snosher-rathcr stiff. He is seen often in
company with strong favored long nine. He cocks
II i, bttla frk
to the strictest taste He sometimes chews and,
perhaps, occasionally swears little 1t is one Of
the pecularities into which he has doubt fallen
from being pitched in the midst Of the corrupt civil
zation Of our times. that he hangs about corners,
at night in gangs and that somehow other. he
slides with marvellous rapidly into a muss or
He even alleges that he must be INDUCED in one of
these. now and then. or he will spoil. But in the
great manly virues-which the stony hearted Nine
teenth Century has little faith in--of doing i'm
mense amount of work for no pay-he can I be beat
The number Of houses churches, theaters, hotels
buildings of every name aud kind he has saved without
receiving iathng of their rents or revenues without
being in the slightest degree concerned in their title no
man can count The Fircman's personal graces are
perhaps not quite equal his goodness of heart His
knowledge of the Fine Arts is rather iimcd-hs &C
ouaintance with Music being confined to the ring or
roar ofthe City Hall Bell and the jingle OF the Hose
Cart-for Pictures he chiefly dcvotcs himself to the
back. board or tail of the machine and as to Siaiu.
arv he has never given the slightest heed to more than
one specimen and that is the wooden Fireman with the
trumpet in his mouth always ALLOWING over ID in
Chry sest His carriage of his person in the street Is
pecuiar-rather abroad and in the style Of movement
of heavy footed buffalo. This is an eccentricy all
the nculcatons aud elegant directions of Mr. Parker at
Tammany Hall have been able to qualify. 1t be.
longs to the race and will, suppose last with it.
CLEAR the way there What do you mean. eh stop.
ping the street, old feller :"
"None of your lip, leather hoad-I've cum on the
track hrst--dye give away
d" Boys, stand by"
op-smash-crash-blood-t down. club
flying about-bang-whose down now Who swung
that sung shot, see yon, Bill Peterson Bang again
-crash-four men carried of badly wounded Andthe
two machines separate and suleny make their way
home
This is a necessary variety in the Of the Fire
mans life a fight at least every three months The ma
chine represents the head OF the clan and the bitterness
is often as desperate between - and IS the euds be-
tween the old Scotch clans the fercest Indian tribes
on our borders They handed down from one
generation of hremen to another if the machines can't
head each other in getting to the fire, overflow
them there in a fair contest they must have fight on
their way back
The Firemen the genuine Firemen, we believe gene
rally belong the two sides Of the City, rarely to the
center if anything the East side has the decided pre-
ponderance and furnishes the richest specimens. He
rarely leaves the City, and has been farther
out OF town than Hoboken. No persuasion no tempts
ton could lure him out of sound OF the Hall Bel.
When he ceases to hear that he is dead man. You
may bury him.
on Sundays he often mounts heavy horse zone OF
his boss s-the butcher and sets forth the Third
avenue. Some times he gets possession of gossamer
sulky and does nj allow himself to be challenged to
trial OF speed than without responding. lie
took drink at starting from town-at the end of the
race he drinks again To s,cadincs in aiming the
pipe fires, the firemen often form themselves into
target companies and paradng the streets in half
uniform with a target borne slo by small black boy
they seek some suburb where they practice AT the
mark and returning, display the target (hc negro boy
rolling his eyes about with awful rapidly if he had
hred all the shois) pierced TO the very center with
holes There are those who have no faith in these ap
parent pcroraiions-who regard them having been
made strictly in accordance with the laws of mechanics
and not OF proectes-by the sugur, by the ball
There is class OF people who consider these Firemens
tar parades assumption make believe altogeth
srtiul concession the military spirit OF the times
Some say they are not (reaD Fremen who partake oil
them but preienders That real Fireman would so
far degrade himself TO wear the livery OF mere
soldier, sc. &c Ne believe Fremen haoe hred at the
target and hH II. Others are welcome to their own
opinion As II is the glory oi the hero TO die the
field OF battle It is the ambition Of the Fireman to fall at
ire 1t Is then only that he dies truly and in charac
ter Theu the bells muiiled and rung dolefully
the machines put Grape the companies are marshaed
in solemn array the funeral the engineers with their
trumpe,s. the City Aldermen in attendance with their
slaves Of Office enwreathcd in black is only in such
death that the community is every now and then
taught to feel that in every Fireman has hero who
is ready at al times yield his life for the safety the
orphan and the wdow-who is willing perish that
society may sleep in peace May his lesther-cap be
immortal may its bright gloss never be dimmed-snd
may his patent leather belt be still respenden, Orion
with all the virtues
CYs SLICE XIV. will tell the reader something
ahout the "JHfeliigcpce Offices.