The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1884-05-15

made Of a pine stick with a wad o.
oil-soaked waste around it and si1
matches in the end which ignite
the waste when they are rubbed on
the side Of the fire box. The torch
starts roaring fire of pine and can
mel coal instantly. There is room
for four men on the engine besides
the driver.
On the tender six men can ride
1t also carries fifteen lengths OF
hose, each fifty feet long, besides
two nozzles. The nozzle has q
toughened revolving ring near the
end. Turning it cuts down the
size of the stream until not a drop
! escapes although the engine may be
! pumping away at full speed.
Il should think the pressure
; would burst the hose" said a re.
porter to Capt. Joseph +. McGill,
| the foreman Of the company.
There are valves on the engine
set to open at a certain pressure,
and thus relieve the hose. We or.
dinarily run on so or 80 pounds to
the square inch,' said the Captain
A stop with a hook on the end
Of it is attached to the nozzle.
When the hook is secured to a
ladder rung the weight of the hose
below is supported and the man
can handle the nozzle as easily as
if on the ground.
Near the foot of the stairway
leading to the second story is q
door.It opens into the foot of atower
more than fifty feet high. Here the
wet hose is suspended at full length
so that it can dry out after the men
have returned from q fire. Dry
hose takes its place on the tender
reel.The stairway leads to the sleep,
ing room on the second floor. Two
shining brass rods run through
hatchways from the second floor
down. Down these the fremen
slide. One lands the engineer and
his assistant at the fre.box and the
men belonging to the tender near
their station. The other drops the
other men at the heads Of the horses
All but two of the men can 60 to
bed at night. These two are called
the Horse Watch, and their duty is
to begin to hitch up the horses after
the gong sounds. They also look
after the comfort Of the animals
during the night, record alarms, &c.
Foreman McGill and his assistant
Martin Cook, have separate room
at the rear of the mems durmitory.
A large number Of the electric
lamps are on this floor, but they
are not turned ON ordinarily. The
dormitory is ornamented with a
profusion of pictures and with two
framed letters. The letters tell OF
the bravery Of Capt. McGill and
his men when they dashed into
Howelrs burning powder store on
July II, 1880, while the merchants
and clerks of the Haighboring stores
and four hundre,l screaming girls
from an adjoinin;; factory fed for
their lives. They would have fled
in vain if Engine 32 had been a
few minutes late, or if her crew had
hesitated in their duty.
The long brass pole at the front
of this room extended up to the
third floor, where there is q comfor-
table reading room. Here the
men take their ease from day to
day after the usual routine is over
Three times in the month each man
has twenty,four hours leave.
Every day each one has an hour
for each meal. They 60 away in
twos, so six Eien and one officer are
always in the house. At night
they remove their coats and trous-
ers, showing the trousers legs down
over the tops of big rubber boots.
The streets without having the
quiet Of 4 country village at that
time, and the men soon fall asleep.
If a stranger looked in at that time
he would find the room pitch dark,
and everything about the building
denoting perfect rest. Iffortunate
he would look around q minute and
then there would come a brilliant
flash of light from a score of elec
trio lamps,and with it the roar of the
big gong below, a hoarse shout from
the men, a trampling of excited
horses, a confused tumble of white
bedclothes, and dark shadows that
would seem TO melt into the floor.
Then he would hear a clicking Of
metal straps, cry OF ready, an
other shout, and before he could
draw second breath galloping
horses would whirl the great ma
chine and its tender through the
open doors.
If the stranger waited long
enough he would see the men and
their engine come slowly back. and
Capt. McGill would probably tell
him that it took twenty seconds to
get the engine out on the pavement
and that when they got to the fire
they found it on the top floor of q
certain building, and that he sent
his men through the hallway of the
adjoining building to the roof, be-
cause he knew that the hatch in the
roof of the burning building was
directly over the fire, and that an
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