Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1876-04-12
Che family Circle.
The Fire Department Of New York City.

WV et">*S~%N <~%%<s
The Fire Department of New York City.
The Fire Department Of New York Cit,
which electricity controls. is the finest an,
most ex tn>ivc in the world. Great hi.
London and brilliant Paris have nothing TO
compare with it. 1t costs us a good deal
of money to keep it going, but we are
proud of it. and no one who has seen it Al
work can fail to admire it. The engines
and horses are the best that can he obtain
ed. and t.c men are skilfu and brave
| Perhaps YOU have stood in some street
when an alarm Of fire has been sent on,
from one Of the boxes. A minute or tive
,fcrward Il fireman has dashed :roun
he corner. clearing the way for his engine
which has followed along b, hind at rar.
horse speed. with bells ringi = and Il trli
of smoke pouring from the chimncv.-th.
wheels a bright scarlet, and every biz If
bass work throwing back the sun>hin" n
binding rays. Then the hose carriage has
come, drum on wheels. with HUNDREDS
Of yards of leather tubing wrapped arouno
it. and half :. dozen men clinginy to their
seats for their lives. and slipping on THEN
coats rs they We're whirlrd onward. 1t
seemed like 4 cavalry charge in \ battle
and has stirred Your blood with excitement
| Ihr busiest man on the thronwcd stree I
has paused To watch the heroes rtllopin.
to heir work The vehicles in the road-
way. tia. were all wrI.rd in togeth. T.
have drawn aside and left \ clear pas>ag
/ in thu r,nt,r.
So. within 4 few minutes of the time o
! h. alarm the gallant iircln'n have reached
the burning building. ami have scaled th,
W Ills and poured torrents of water on tn
fumes. perhaps putting them out III les
than half IN hour. and perhaps fighting
them for HE greater part of :, dav.
he moment the knob on the little huu-
i pulled All tin, roy-whcrIS rcvol>e viii
noise like clock work. and Electricity leaps
ont Of he roof AMI along the wires vi II ;,
| warning t. the en- me houses. AWAY he
yr> over the hight>j bindings IN the city
up this street. down that street. now al"n.
, narrow rornice vcn'y feet high. thl
around a hurch rrpl" stopping for h,
niIli"nth pat Of a second on !, fifth $50
h II down t, the ground. never ptll> n
until h- alighl- 1t his 'r~tlnt tion with ::
crash like III sound of :, bal boy tunblin.
tlrrr Oh the roof Of a vll~> house.
An when he n, ives th' rt? What then:
Well. | will tell cNrctlv what happen,
jllcn, hui before doing rllU. I must al
on to swallow a few nice. dry. importan
facts.
You understand of course that no rr.a
business :, tends to itself and in the Fir,
Department, each man has Il plrlicul,l
place and some particular duties a~siwnr,
10 him The whole city from the Battery
Park ut one end Ia Fordlnm at the. other
j. divided inIn districts each of which h,-
/ certain number of alarm boxes and Sta
tinn houses in it. The station hoU> N,
) occupied by comptn e> Of tirrmcn. md ar,
built of brick. three stoi les high, with ".
green gates in front. The first tlpur i,
level With the street. and confirms the en-
cine. in the rear of which are sttl for tn,
horses On the second story there is :
sitting room nicely rarp,tcd and pap, rt.,
e ntainin~ small library and pictures o
celebrated hienIcn tn the walls. AhUv,
/ IL are the dormitorlr>. with long rows y
! narrow non beds. and 4 wash room Al
Together. these satIun-hou~ts look vrrN
"mfpr able and many boys will. pen lrur
consider fireman s very dt> irabc lif,.
suppose that >ou ana | drop into on,
qritc 10y chance some afternoon or tvrnn.
i, matters lltll. whit the hour is for til,
ii ,'nrn have no respite. and are on lut,
al day and all night.
As We enter the house from the street
we are at first impressed with the marvel
ous ntatnr>s Of even Wiling. The floors an.
scrubbed 10 4 degree Of Wilderness lhl
would do u tidy woman S heart good. The
kal>"mine on the walls is >p"tlcs~ and
grtat bic brass gong shines like a mina
ture sun. The eng ne, standing in the cen
ter. is Is bright Is though it had Just com,
from the builders hands Its wheels ar,
painted Il flaming scarlet and every bit o
: brass work is Il looking glass. Yet it wa
III Il fire only last night. and wis ,lrrnrhr.
with water and clOuded with smoke Til,
furnace is filled with fuel. and Il brand "
cotton soaked in Kerosene lies near hv
ready to be lighted the moment it is want
ed. Perhaps you have not observed tn,
pipe that comes up through the floor Blu
lif You look nj the little dial over the fur
8 mace. You will see that twenty-five pound
of pressure are registered, which amour
of steam is constantly maintained in til,
boiler by means of this pipe. whi%h is ut
, tacilcd to another boiler in the cellar be-.
meath; So that when the eng inc is calle,
ont, and her own fire is lighted, She is i'm
medillrly ready tor use.
In the sails behind he front apartment
three plump. well-yr"omrd horses are Sc
rurcly battered, wi h the pet name of cacl
written in golden letters over his bed
Some Of the tiremcn, who are mostl,
Young. wirv, and muscular. are in the par
lor overhead. reading or playing Il, minuc,
Others a chatting in the rear yard
Although the station is on Il noisy thor
ouGhare, it Is Us quiet us Il church within
and an Ovcr-fcd kitten is cOiled uD in fran
quill sleep on the door mat But surpris,
is in store for rs, and when it comes il
shakes our nerves.
Crash. The roof seems to be filling i'm
Crash, crash, crash, again and again
The three horses come g..lloping out Of tn.
stable one after the Other. ana stop shor
in front of the eng in" and hose -c:lrriaye
The men leap about like bounding Arabs.
there is Il rattle of harness; the drivers
spring to their scat and the VIDE door,
tlynl en- Ready,
And the captain of the station. who has
been standing quietly in corner with his
waite. in his hand comes toward us, who
are ,umbfounded. and smiling,y says to
us: Exactly thirteen seconds, gentle
men What on earth does he mean ?
Simply that, in order to show us what his
men could do. he gave Il false alarm, and
that n little more lll,n Il quarter of Il min
ute after Master Electricity had sounded
the gong, every man was at his place
horses we G harne>sed, md all things were
ready for IA fight with the flames.
Whenever the knob IN the l,te houses
on the cle-raph- poles IS pulled, the same
things occur in at least four engine houses.