Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1883-08-01
A Heidelberg Fire.

which things go on is curious contrast
to the methods and ways of the Ameri
can fireman.
''It was over half an hour before the
crowd got on the right scent. Some
one had discovered smoke slowly creep
ing out of the upper windows and from
the tiled roof of a three-story building
on the Hauptstrasse. in the centre OF
the city; and in due course of time the
tide of travel set in the right direction.
When L arrived at the scene of conflag-
ration, or rather of smoke, i found
crowds of spectators. but l could dis
cover no signs of any firemen or fire en-
gines neither could l see that any at
tempt was Deing made to get the fire
under control. Many of the men and
women had wooden and leather buck
cts and TIN pals in their hands, which
they had brought with them, but no
one seemed to know for what use they
were intended. Among the few who
had not deserted the premises when the
smoke was discovered, there WAS evil
IDENTIFY a great CONSERVATION. Win
dows were thrown open or hurriedly
smashed out, and never witnessed be-
fore such a shower OF worldly goods de-
scending from burning building. 1t
was the old story over again of people
losing their heads, or Father their senses,
at a fire. Looking glasses. wash bowls,
and pitchers, all varieties of crockery,
oil paintings, bric-a-brac, pieces of fur
niture, mantel ornaments, ETC., were
raining down from alove on to the paw
ed street with as little ceremony or care
as they would have been if thrown out
of the crater of a volcano. At one of
the second story windows, at least q
hundred feet from the smoke, saw
two or three men and as many women
struggling with an upright piano, which
they were endeavoring to force out of a
window, but, luckily for the piano and
its owner, the opening was too small.
Meantime the smoke increased, but
no other evidence of flames appeared.
Time passed. Mr.. Ruggles asked an
American student if there was no fire
organization, and was told there was.
49, But where are the firemen! Why
aren't they here to put out the fire p
"'Oh, they'll be here by-and-by
they have gone home to put on their
uniforms. They are as particular as if
they were going to a dress parade
most of them stop to shave and have
their boots BACKED
land the building on fire all the
while -
49, To be sure but you can't hurry
spreading or the buildings burning up
They are not SO used to this kind of
business as we are i'll America they
don't have the practice
More minutes went by, and there
was stir in the mass of beings who
were quietly gazing at the smoke and
still descending shower of household
goods from the windows. The crowd
opened right and left, like the waters of
the Red Sea on a particular occasion,
and i'll the open passage appeared fine
carriage drawn by two spirited horses.
Lying back at his ease ON the back seat
was evidently a military officer of some
high rank. He was in full uniform,
even to his sword, spiked helmet cap,
and the inevitable goid-bowed specta-
cleS. | saw by the sensation his arrival
had created that the was some distin-
guished General. l asked a German
near me if it was the Crown Prince
Bismarck, or Won Moltke, but the man
stared at me with astOnishment through
his spectacles, and that it was neither
it was Herr Weisengarten, or some
such name, the Freiwillige Feuerweher,
which meant that he was the chief of
fire department
THE great official slowly got out of
his carriage, and, after carefully adjust
ing his spectacles, took a long stare at
the building from which the smoke was
issuing. Then he approached little
nearer and took another stare. Evident
ly not satisfied that it was smoke, he
went over to the right of the bnilding,
and gazed long and earnestly at the
roof and windows then he moved a
distance to the left, for another view.
The scene raminded me of the story of
the bluejay in Mark Twain's Tramp
Abroad where the inquisitive bird
was so nonplussed at the disappearance
of the acorns down the knot-hole.
''As soon rs the man became salts
fled at something or other he went
back to his carriage and rode away. L
inquired where he had gone, and was
told that, having become convinced
that there was actually fire, he had
started to order out the fire engines.
The firemen now began to make their
appearance in squads of twOs and threes
and half dozens. They were all in gay
uniforms, similar TO that worn by their
chief, only not SD rich. Handsome
swords dangled by their sides. and their
brass helmet caps glistened i'll the sun
light. No engines had yet arrived, nor
was there any evidence that the fire
buckets were to be brought into requi-
sition. Several American students were
getting excited, or rather mad, over the
slowness with which everything Is done.
One of them proposed that they should
run through the streets, giving the
alarm IN American style, and see if it
would not hurry up the engines. 1t
was no sooner proposed than off they
started ON a run. At the end of two
or three blocks they commenced
screaming at the top of their voices,
feuer feuer which in English means
fire, and pronounced the same. heard
the familiar alarm echoing through the
streets for several minutes and then it
stopped suddenly. There was an Omi-
nous silence. did not see the students
again that day. l heard during the af-
ternoon that they hae been arrested by
the police and locked up Tor Great
ing disturbance in the streets. They
won't undertake again to give an alarm
of fire in foreign city.
while this little incident was trans
piring, the attention of the crowd, who
were still idly gazing at the building
from safe distance, was attracted bv
fresh horror, but one of most ridi-
culous nature. An immense German,
of Daniel Lambert proportions, sudden
ly appeared in his night shirt at a bay
window on the first floor-far removed
from any possibility of fire, frantically
screaming for help. He had evidently
oversight himself from the effects of a
keg of beer drank the previous evening,
when the unusual noise in the street
it was about IL o'clock in the forenoon
n. IL