Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-01
MAKING UP THE LIST.
Chief Brown Will Not be Ready fol-
a Few Days to Name the Firemen
WHO WILLREMAIN INTHE SERVICE
DR.. Mercur Finds No Color Blindness
Among the Fire Fighters.
HE SAYS THE MEN MUST BE EXERCISED


the Fire Burea1 to be in excellent con-
dition physically" DR.. Mercur said yester-
day afternoon. ''They went only to the
bodily condition of the men, their height,
weight, general health, keenness of eye
sight, etc. As rule, the men are up to the
average. Those who fail to come up to the
standard of physical soundness are gen.
orally men who have been connected with
the department for many yeals and have
grown old or been disabled in the service.
found one man who had been on the force
80 years. Another man was disabled while
on duty. Ee cannot do active work at fires,
but is kept at the engine house, where he is
useful 1t is but justice that the city should
retain such men in its service. They are
worthy pensioners.
''The man who showed the best chest ex-
pansion is Captain Robert McConway, of
No. 6. Captain John Lennox, of No. s, has
also a spendidly developed chest. In the
entire bureau I. did not find one case of
color blindness. examined the mems eyes
only on the primary and secondary cOlors,
such as red, blue and green. 1t would be
serious defect if fireman could not dis
tinguIsh red. / could not tell great deal
about the habits of the men. did not in
quire into them. "A man might be q hard
drinker, and if he were young it might not
have affected his heart or other organs yet,
although it would later.
''It is impossible for me to say what COM
pany ranks the highest The men were ex-
amined individually. simply had blank
forms to fill out, and as rapidly as did so L
turned them over to Chief Browns clerk.
did not have time to look over them collect
lively,
POLITICS NO OBJECT.
''I do not believe there was any political |
object in having the examinations made. 1 |
think that Chief Brown simply desired, for |
the good of the service, to know who the |
best men are. don't believe that he in
tends to discharge those old-timers who have |
done good work, but are now physically run |
down. Under his instructions, did my
work conscientiously, without favoritism.
Every case went down on its merits. 1 |
made, in my reports, no recommendations
or suggestions. / do not believe that there
was man who failed to come up to the
standard who did not know it himself From
the examinations made / shall not expect
many changes.
"Firemen ought to take good deal more
exercise than they do. As rule they are
indclent. They eat too much and do not
exercise enough. Men who are not naturally
athletic grow more indolent year after year.
1 have known men to go into the service in
good physical condition who would soon run
down. Work as work does not develop
man physically as well as proper exercise.
There ought to be rowing machine In every
engine house. think that is the best thing
that can be used. Striking the bag is also
8 good exercise. Both of these things have
some excitement about them, and the men
are more likely to use them than clubs or
dumb-bells.
'Some regular form of exercise ought to
oe made obligatory. While few men love
3exercise, most of them do not. Such a
man as Captain Hannigan, of No. 2, is an
excellent example to the force. He exer-
cises regularly, is a fine specimen of man
hood, and knows how to take care of him
self Very few OF the men, however, fol-
low his example. made no written recon-
mendation to Chief Brown on the subject of
obligatory exercise, though have spoken
to him about it. l think it is likely that
something in that line will be done soon."
WHO WILL BE INSPECTOR?
Chief Brown has not vet looked over the
examination papers. He said yesterday
that no changes in the bureau would be
made inside of week. Members of the {
bureau, even the higher officials, claim to
be ignorant of the exact place which will
be occupied by the proposed Fire Inspector.
1t is generally thought that he Will rank as
an assistant superintendent. In the gossip :
about City Hall and in police and fire cir :
cles, only one name is connected with the
position, that of Inspector McAleese. That
gentleman is now in Chicago and is ex-
pected 10 be at home tomorrow.
In No. 2 engine house, on Smithfeld
street, is an interesting relic of the man C
whom the fire laddies regard as having been t
the athletic chief of the Pittsburg depart v
ment. 1t is a cast in iron, of the arm of b
James HammilL He was the champion b
oarsman of America. From 1872 until 1875. a
a few months before his death, he was a C
hoseman in No. company. The arm is s
not an unusually large one but the devel- b
opment OF the muscles is magnificent. The a
iron arm stands upon a small pedestal and d
is to be seen in the gymnasium on the top d
hoor. The dumbbells and clubs there were L
nearly all Hammil's property. The biggest s.
bell, weighing 116 pounds, he used occa- Il
but his practice was usually with "
q 24pound bell. His brother, John Ham,
mill, is at present the storekeeper for the E