The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-05-23
OUR GERMAN LETTER.


sines ~ Their Manner Of Providi"s
Supply of Water - The Outfit Of Berii
Fireman Thoughts suggested-Observa
lions of n New OrIeanian Abroad.
rEuropean Correspondence Of the Bulletin.]
BERLIN, April 80, 1875.
Dear Bulletin-I have seen a s'turn out o
the Berlin fire department. What of that
Won NAV say. Well, only this, that if hat
not been wide awake and walking about
should have thought it was vision of th'
past century, for such set of engines and
contrivances generally I have never seen ex
cept in pictures, and in fact did not thinl
it possible that any enlightened community
much less in q great and scientific city like
Berlin, would tolerate such benighted old.
fogyism for moment. 1t happened in this
wise:
was walking leisurely home-that is to
say, to the place where am at present in the
habit of hanging my hat and overcoat, and
where chang up" myself for the night, OF,
"not to put too fine point on it." to my
lodgings-about half-past 10, one fine. pleas
ant evening, when I became conscious OF
some commotion in the street few blocks
ahead, where could see the glare and smoke
of several great torches, and where there
seemed to be crowd collected, though q
very orderly one. Ny duty and inclination
both prompting me to inquire into all un-
usual or otherwise interesting phenomena Of
this strange city, at once FASTENED forward,
and on arriving in front of large and hand
some four-story house, from the upper win
dows of which number of persons were
gazing out into the street in the calmest man
ner imaginable, found two or three curious
looking machines, like garden pumps mount
ed on cotton floats, all drawn up in
battle array, while number of fellows
buried in helmets and great coats, were rush
ing around with such torches as I described
in previous letter, made by wrapping tow
saturated with pitch around long sticks, and
Is looked, there came laundering roll OF
wheels and the CLEAN of more torches down
the street, and presently up comes other cot
ton floats bearing immense casks, together
with two or three moderately respectable hose
carriages, all of which came to halt in front
of said house, from which began to conclude
that there must be fire hid away somewhere,
and that these were the "noble guardians of
the city's peace" come to hunt it up and
sprinkle water upon it. asked q genteel by
stander whether there was fire in that calm
and undisturbed mansion, and was politely
informed that there had been, but that it was
all out before the first watering pot arrived.
This at once explained the indiffer-
ence expressed by the inmates of
the building. But the noble fremen
still came charging up with their spirit
guns and water barrels, until the whole street
was full of them, and the glare of their
smoky torches, added to that of the gas,
made the place as light as day. They re-
fused for some time to believe that the fire
was out, and committee after committee went
in to see if they could not find some spark or
coal upon which to "turn loose. but de-
jected and sad they were obliged to give it
up, so mounting their machines they drove
away one after another with torches blazing,
and one fellow in each party pounding upon
some sonorous part of the engine with q
the crossings. These engines are OF the most
primitive style, not even having q suction
hose but instead there is q well in the mid
die, into which water must be poured.
The levers or "brakes" run across the |
width of the machine instead of in the |
length, spd the wooden handles are shipped
and unshipped like the handspikes of
windlass. should judge that not more than |
six or eight men could get at each brake, as
they run across in the awkward manner just |
described, and, of course, so small number
could amount to nothing, when it comes to |
forcing water through great length of hose. |
The hose itself is Of the old-fashioned kind,
made of leather and riveted with brass, and |
think there could not have been more than
hundred and fifty feet of it, if even that
much, with each engine.
But then those water tanks are the most re- |
markable of all Just fancy going to put out
. fire in q large city with barrel of water
mounted on a cart, and a garden engine to
squirt it with 1t is too absurd for belief,
but such is the solemn fact, and have seen
it with my own eyes. They have another sort
Of machines here that go about at night with
just such casks, and one might mistake gal
liant company of fremen going nobly to the
rescue with their jolly old beer barrel full Of
water, for party OF ignoble sanitary" men
engaged in their nightly avocations.
And the firemen themselves are the 'rum-
miest" set of fellows.you can fancy. They go
about in great scoop Of helmet, like the
old Shaker bonnets, and enveloped in pom
derous coats, while every man wears a cam
vas case or cylinder, some eighteen inches
long, at his back, in which coil of trusty |
rope is supposed to be hidden away. ready to
swing in q moment from q fourth-story win
dow for the escape of the helpless from
threatening flames. Every man also wears
small ak, in shape like magnifed single
hatches, and sword; SO that with this arsenal
of implements swung to them. and their
champion 'squirters," leather hose and bar
Z lis, they rush out in the full consciousness of
beng invincible.
The Berlin guide books speak quite proudly
of their "Fire-watch," telling how admirably
they are organized and provided with all the
requisites for effective duty, but one can easily
see that if there should come really destruc-
tive fire, they would be unable to do much
toward subduing it, except perhaps, by blow
ing up number OF houses, and thus circum-