New-York tribune., 1889-12-22

BBAVE CONDUCT At THE HoSfi 4 AZ 4nI,
Fire can nowhere enjoy larger oppo' - -!
for dreadful harm than when IL atVachS 0'
ing wherein the sick, wounded anu he'p'0o
confined. and of necessity more or less huuuioo
together. The danger to human NE III sum
buildinc when once a consuming hre eeos i"i'-
" started is at the maximum. IL Is in,pU'
s;ble IN conceive of a situation more trlshtiuily
,o,ilous than that in which the fame beleagured
nat;auts of the Presbyterian Hospital were
nI.ced on THURSDAY night. That they all were
so,,od ;s fact which tells its own story OF con-
summate skill bravery and endurance on the
nor, If the firemen and police officers who con-
ducted the work of rescue. In all respects III
deed. the ]abors of these men were adfhiraoiJ
nerformeI. Everything was done with SYSTEM
wonderful energy, promptness ana cohple.c-
ness. The fire had taken firm hold upon lhe
building which offered it plenty OF matellai 10
feed upon and the possibility of its spread ana
of general conflagration was by no means io-
mote But so quickly were the engines put ihVo
operation. and so formidable and wel-direc'eu
were the quenching streams that 1oushV l.S
progress. that its mastery was soon gaiheu'
while the dangerous effort of life-SaylnS went
on without interruption or fatal incident.
This was truly wonderful and justly worthy
of odm;ration and vet the record might easily
have been of another sort. AT the very mo-
ment when the fire had become effective inc
cool and intrepid conduct of General T. H. l.
Coils interposed to render the situation one III
which the salvation of the patients was sui
rossihle. II was at the moment when panic
in
when the fact of the fire had been communicat-
ed TO the patients. What might have happeheu
through wild efforts to escape but Tor MS poiu
and spirited intervention is easy and awlul 10
surmise General Coils was approaching the
hospiial in a Fourth-ave. surface car ana ne
bannened to SEQ thin fame coming from a
corner of the roof He rushed from the car
sought a policeman and fire-boX rang the
alarm. and then organized in and out OF the
hospital building strong volunteer force OF
life-savers They were already in action, ana
had accomplished that part of the work wmch
in n few more minutes would have been the
most dangerous and the least possible, when
the fremen arrived. 1t is altogether unlikely
that there would have been so little to deplore
in the results of the fire but for this brave and
| skilful conduct.
General Coils is entitled to that public ad-
miration which courage resolution and prompt
action in moments of peril and difficulty always
excite. lie may not be aware that he is any
more or less a hero now than before he dashed
into the burning hospital with his corps OF aids
and began to carry the sick and suffering in
mates from certain doom to safety. And, in
deed, he may have done no specific act o. the
highest daring. But at a time when everybody
around him was growing crazy with despera-
ton and fear, and when such Generalization
meant sure death to scores of people, he did
the right thing in the right way. lie so shaped
the situation that the trained fremen could
handle it without the loss of single life. lie
did what so few men think to do in similar
emergencies, and what, if done, and done GER
tainly and quickly is almost sure to avert the
worst of an impending catastrophe.