The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-11-03
THE FIRE LADDIES.
GETTING TO BE MORE EXPERT IN
ANSWERING FIRE ALARMS.


Gotham,s Firemen Have Got Their Busi-
ness Down to a Science-Time 1t Takes
Fireman to Dress-The Horses Har-
ness.
Every day the brave fire laddies OF
Gotham are getting to be more expert In
swiftly answering fire alarms, and are on
the lookout for improvements that Will
cut down even shorter the few seconds at
present occupied in hitching up horses
and starting the engines OF trucks rattling
on their way to the fire. The sliding pole
was an improvement on the old-fashioned
pellmell rush down the stairs that saved
nearly a minute of preparation. Quick
dressing is one of the features OF hre lad
die activity nowadays that fills every lay
man with amazement. The laddies have
got the business down to such a science
that they literally jump into their clothes.
Every fireman goes to bed with his red
fire shirt on. His trousers are always
kept tucked into the legs of his heavy
rubber boots, and when he reti res he
retires simply lets the trousers slide OH
him and down over the boot leg and then
steps out of the boots. When he wants
to dress he steps back into the boots
again, yanks the trousers up around his
waist, fastens them with a spring buckle,
and makes dashes for the sliding pole
quick as wink, completely dressed.
THE AVERAGE TIME
Twelve seconds is the average time 1t
takes fireman to dress when an alarm
starts him out of bed at night" Sergt.
Smith said, "and IlI bet 800 to 81 as
many times as anybody wants to take the
odds that we have men here who can
dress in six seconds every time they want
to-"
The essential thing in putting fires out
in a hurry is to get the machinery there,
as well as the men who handle 1t. And
it is in this essential thing about the
science of handling fires that our fire
commissioners think the department
comes as near perfection as it is possible
for human ingenuity to reach. Improve
ment after improvement has been made,
until now the loss of time in hitching has
been reduced apparently absolutely TO the
minimum. There are only two things
about it that aren't automatic. These are
the movement of the horses from the
stalls to their places beside the engine
shaft, and the swapping OF their collars
over their necks by the watchman. And
both these are done in such a perfect way
that they are as good as automatic any
how. Automatic machinery does all of
the rest of the work quick enough to
make your head swim If you try to time
the details. The instant the operator at
fire headquarters opens the circuit to send
an alarm the current drops a metal ball
right beside the gong. The ball strikes,
presses down a bar of brass, and pulls a
steel wire that automatically unhitches
the springs at the sides of the stalls that
hold the halters of the horses. The ham
mer of the gong simultaneously with the
first alarm stoke, stops the little record"
clock that is perched on a shelf beside the
gong, and thus automatically keeps rec
ord of the time consumed in going to u
fire, putting it out and returning BY
comparing the little clock with the big
clock on the wall that is going all the
time, the captain of the company can tell
at a glance just how long it took to do
any given piece of work.
THE HORSES HARNESS.
The harness is always suspended over
the shaft by an automatic iron hanger"
1t is held in position there by springs.
When the driver grabs the reins the ten
sion loosens the springs, the harnesses
drop down upon the horses, the watch
man snaps the collars around the horses 8
necks, and automatic weights attached to
little pulleys in the ceiling carry the
framework of the 'hanger' up over head
out of the way. improvements are
steadily being made in the collars that
| the fire horses wear. They are made in
two sections, fastened with a hinge at the
top and snap together at the bottom with
an automatic steel spring lock Collars
made of cast iron have recently been in
troduced in some of the engine houses.
They are sixteen pounds lighter than the
leather collars, which weigh thirty six
pounds each, and they are considered
more durable and serviceable. These col
lars can be fastened around the horses
necks in fraction of a second.
Great as is the efficiency of the appar-
atus for eXtinguishing fires, still further
improvements are contemplated. Com,
missioner Purroy is trying to have an
electric lantern perfected that will enable
| the firemen to see into buildings through
thick smoke, and that won't go out and
| leave them in darkness, as the present
| oil lanterns do. The commissioner
| brother wants to rig up a double stage ar
rangement in every engine house, that
will enable two engines to be kept in each
house and thus double the capacity OF the
department to fight fires. When one en-
| gine has gone to fire, the other, by the
proposed plan, can be hoisted out OF the
| cellar and be kept in instant readiness te
answer a call for reinforcements.-
| York Sun.
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