Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-04-08

of last year. it was thought more radical
change must be effected in order that
the department might meet the growing
exigencies Of the city. Accordingly,
plan was devised and acted upon,
which is a kind of compromise between
full paid department and are altogether
volunteer. The men employed are divided
into two classes, which, for want OF better
sstransient' The full-pa;d employees en-
brace all the engineers, fremen and drivers,
/ and the tillerman of the hook and ladder
truck, and number eighteen out OF the total
of forty-two altogether on the force. VI
course one of the very highest objects OF a
fire department is to get the apparatus 10 the
| fire in the shortest possible time. 10 THIS
all facilities, appliances and energies are
turned, and it is, therefore, palpable that me
men who form the full-paid class should be
in unremitting attendance, as upon them de-
pend the getting up of steam, and the get
ting to the fire. These men, therefore, are
always at the engine houses. They sleep
therein. and never leave, unless in cases of
urgent necessity, and only when an efficient
substitute is provided in each case.
| The ''tranGlentS are cOupIlSeU OF oil 1OIeLle1
and hosemen. AS fires most frequently oc-
cur at night, the transients are required to
sleep at their respective houses, reporting at
roll call at 8 P. M, and are dismissed under
ordinary circumstances, at the succeeding
roll-call at 6 A. NJ. following, after which
they are at liberty to pursue their ordinary
avocations, subject of course, to duty
when summoned by day alarms. The tran
| Iorfo do
with the full-paid men, and thus some saw
ing of expense is effected. It would seem,
however, to be wise to modify this plan 80
as to place the foreman upon the full-pald
class; and for this reason. No matter how
alert or jealous the man may be, he must
lose time in getting to fire when he does
not have an equal start with the apparatus;
and that loss of time occurs when
seconds count as minutes, and minutes
as hours. It may thus happen
that hose cart may get to fire with nobody
to serve the hose but the driver, and much
incalculable damage might ensue before
breathless men reach the spot. If, however,
the foreman was started out with the cart,
there would be two men, driver and fore
man, to handle the hose, which would par
TALLY remedy the evil of the temporary de-
lay occasioned by the hosemen coming up.
THE HORSES.
The number of horses in the department
is fourteen, finer lot of animals could
scarcely be found. They have been selected
with great care as to their soundness, quick
ness, strength. docility, intelligence
and reliability. There is scarcely
any walk of equine life more
arduous than that of the fire department
; horse. Like the fremen, he must sleeI
with one eye open, and one ear pricked
At the first tap of the alarm, he must be
ready, even if he awakes from the soundest
slumber. Many would suppose that fire
horse-if the expression may be permitted
: enjoys comparative sinecure. It is the
general supposition that he does nothing
but MUNICH oats, corn and hay, and stanc
: in the stall as a sort of equine monarch OF
all he surveys. It is not so; and it is not
every horse that will make fire horse. HI
has his drill to learn and make himself per.
, feet in, and the nature of his existence il
such as to wear SO deeply upon his nervous
, system, that ''greenhorn" of horse sell
dom lies down for the first two
weeks, or even longer, of his servitudt
in the department. He must stand or lie al
the time, like Shakspeare's hero, 'with hi
harness on his back That, of itself, ant
, !, simple as it seems, is CALLING in the extreme
: Any one who has seen horse give himself
that satisfied shake of his whole body whe1
: relieved of his harness, must feel how
horse appreciates being unfettered. It is
pleasure the fire horse never experiences. Sc
far, indeed, does the constant wearing of tn
harness distress horse, that those of tn
department have their collars suspended t
prevent CALLING of tho shoulders and withers
and generally rest the animal.
! ''sAM'' AND THE OTHERS.
f His drill once acquired, the fire horse is
3 prince among horses, often betraying an in
telligence that is so largely human that
!. can only be appreciated by being seen
: . The st. Paul department is not lacking i
. such. OF course, every driver in the de
partment believes his animals the best o.
the staff, and all have some special feature O
other. They are all great pets, but refer
Q ence can only be made to one or two. "Sam,
! the near horse on No. 4, is of these. He
d as full of mischief as an egg is of meat, bu
g he is as true as steel when there's any bust
. ness on hand. The horses, it must be un
q derstood, stand in stalls facing to the en-
" gines and carts. The. latches of the divid
q ing doors between the stalls and th
= engine rooms, and of the cute
doors, the clasps hitching the horse
. and suspending the collars are all connecte
;, with the electric wires of the fire alarm
= These are all ungeared at once. The horse
"a are loosened and rush of their own accord
' the result of training to his appropr
:, ate place. That movement is Sans supren
v est. He has got so accustomed to the clio
# of the electric apparatus and the fall of b
IL hitching strap, that the moment he is loos
- be bounds like greyhound to his place |
"a tie pole of the engine. There are othe
,e very proficient, and, perhaps, just as quic
q But Sam has got such a way with him whe
"a he clatters forth his 1920 pound avoird,
h pois. He sets his ears back SO wicked
n and so closely, and he CLEAN
If SO fercely through his fu
y dark eyes, as much as to say, "Here goes fl
:. all the blazes in the city; I'm coming" II
familiar duncolored team of the hook an
ladder truck forms pair as playful as XII
e. tens and are excellently trained. They ha
e. fallen, sad to relate, into the disreputab
j. practice of chewing fne-cut tobacco, and a
ID further disreputable in never buying Il
a weed they love, but are unabashed in the
q. begging for. It's perfectly astonishing he
,e human horse can Become! But this hor
- talk must cease for the present.
rt THE FIRE ALARM TELEGRAPH.
1g This important branch of the fire depa