The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1883-06-06
FIRE DEPARTMENT HORSES.
ANIMALS THAT DISPLAY GREAT
INSTINCT AND sAaAcITY.

Tho Rapidity with Which the Horses In
New York EnEine Houses MOve--The
Force OfHabit aud Early Education.
According to report, and there is a
great deal of fact at the bottom of it,
equine intelligence has reached its
highest development in the fire depart
ment horse of to-day Even the rag,
tag and bobtail nags of the depart
ment which have not displayed any
peculiar genius, are every day called
upon to display how thoroughly the
equine intelligence can be educated.
Perhaps there are few people that
chance upon condagration and see
the engines come tearing along at a
moments space after the alarm is seLt
out who pause to consider how RAPID
has been the passage from the engine
house and how instantaneous must
have been the work of harnessing and
equipping But little reelection re-
veals that the system which enables
the wires that flash word of the fire to
bring to the scene of it almost with
telegraphic quickness the heavy fire.
lighting appliances and the force TO
operate them, must be silgularly
effective and rapid. A visit to any
engine-house will assure one that time
is there valued as it is nowhere else.
Everything that Ingenuity or science
can devise to make the work of de-
parture immediate has been made of
avail
The engine stands ready for the
road. So does the tender. The horses
are in their stalls. The men are loung-
ing about or sleeping. But strike the
alarm and in twinkling all are at
their posts. By curious contrivance
the hammer that strikes the warning
gong sets in operation q system of
cords and levers that unfasten the
horses. The men come down from
their sleeping or sitting-rooms, not by
stairways, but by pole to the lower
floor. They are all ready in twink
ling. And what of the horses? They
generally outstrip the bipeds in re-
spending to the call. The hammer
which releases them and strikes the
gong sends them an alarm they at
once interpret. Standing or lying
they are out at once and beside the
engine pole. There is no harnessing,
no adjusting of belly bands and squeez-
ing of collars and fastening of reins.
The new "swing" harness used in
the department. is a acomplete caparison,
which is suspended by an ingenious
apparatus above the spot where the
horses take their places. Close the
open collar with snap, pull rope
which lifts the suspending appar-
atus and they are equipped and ready
for the road. The door swings open,
every man is in his place and away
goes the engine. Clockwork is slow
compared with the handling of an en-
gine at the sound of the alarm. 1t
seems to be by electricity that every
thing is done. And in this lightning
drill the dumb brute excels. A fire
laddie may lag or a mishap may occur
to some one. But the engine horse is
always at his post. Equine intelligence
does not stop at the capacity to COM
prehend what is to be done when the
gong strikes. Numbers of instances
are vouched for by members of the force
where the number Of gong beats be-
came familiar to the animal, and they
were able to locate the direction of the
fire as well as the men. Some of these
reports doubtless partake largely of
the fictitious, but the exploits of Chief
Eli Bates horse which have found
their way into print are strongly cor
roborative. AS the story goes. the
chiefs animal-an old-timer that has
borne him to many scene of confla-
gration-was hitched to his wagon and
standing in front of the fire headquar
ters one night over year ago, when
an alarm was rung. The big gong in
the lower hall rolled off 2-2-5-two
hundred and twenty-five-which indi-
Gated the alarm box at the corner of
Stanton and Attorney streets. The
old fire horse pricked up his ears at the
sound, waited for the last thump Of
the hammer and then started off like a
flash. There was a clear way for him
down Mercer street, but the animal
seemed to know just where he was
bound, and, quickly turning at Prince
street, he made straight for the Bow
cry. This reached he faced neither up
nor down, but cut across it diagonally
TO Stanton street, and was bound cast
ward to the exact locality of the fire
when four-horse sleigh dashed into
the unoccupied wagon and smashed it
t)pieces. The chiefs horse was unin-
jured, and, feeling himself relieved cf
the worsted vehicle, he stopped his
career and turning about calmly waited
till some of the bypassers took charge
of him and led him back. Chance may
have dictated his course, it is true, but
If so it was most peculiar coinci-
dence.
1t requires good horses t. DO the
work of the department, and tractable
ones, too. No hack can well lie ex-
peeted to drag the heavy machines
over the rough pavement at very