Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-10-03
FIRE FIGHTERS.
NEW YORk'S DEPARTMENT. THE.
BEST IN THE WORLD.
Heading the Gongs-The Dreaded
Three Skies and the Grateful Four
F0ui's-Trainiug the Men to Csc
Lfc-Saving Appliances.

press rs ap; TO make Il great ado ut the
close of each fiscal year, when the poticcs
"i the cost oi maintaining their Fire De
lsntmcnt for twelve months IS made uub
lie. ''''' l''''
The hes: paid Of I.ondon's rank and
file iiremcn get SIS Il week, ont of which
tho; mus, pay rent to the city for the
rooms they occupy, over what the New
York force know as the APPARATUS floor.
! he rank and file OF this city begin with
" salary OF $1,000 It year, which is after
ward increased to $1,000 If the firemen
get Killed in his city, the widow receives
$1,000 from the Pension Fund and $500
year after ,i.at as Ion" as remains :,
widow
Company quarters Of any hook and
laddcr or engine company substantially
resemble one another. II !. visitor enters
the quarters of an engine company, say
during the night. lie will see to his right,
and close To the door which he passes
through, 81 desk, generally surrounded
by Il railing. AT this desk the fireman
''Cn watch sits, wakcfu and alert, for
the signal which mny ut any moment
come whirriug over the wires. In front
of him lies the blottcr on which are re-
corded all alarms and other memoranda
Incidental to the routine work of the day
or night.
On the wall, TO the right. are the "onrs
on which the alarms are sounded. one
large ono and one small one. y Morse tel
c"raphic instrument, telephone. the
weights and chains, which, by clever
arrangement, drop when an alarm is
sounded and release the horses. Last,
but not least, is :: small clock placed near
the large gong. This is connected with
the alarm ny Il small copper wire, attached
To the ono end of which is an iron WEIGHT
The striking of the hammer on the gong
tlslodgcs the weight and its fail causes
the wire 10 pull u piece of wood against
lie pendulum OF the clock, thus stopping
1t 1T the precise time uf the sounding. of
IN alarm
Directly in front of the visitor stands
the engine, rs Respondent us muscle and
paint can make il. Behind it is the hose
car; Of tender. In the majority of engine
quarters stalls for ilic horses are on both
sides of the iloor within few feet of The
shafts Of their respective apraratuses. The
harness Is hung To The ceiling by . system
Of riilcyS which permit of the dropping
OF the whole by the simple loosenng Of II
cord fixed 10 the wall near tire alarins.
Above the apparatus floor the men sleep
on snowy white beds. Brightly polished
brass rods connect the apparatus floor
with the mems quarters, and down these
the men slide when an alarm has called
them ont of he'd.
Tic most mysterious thing to the
ordinary citizen is the reading of the
alarms. TO rush to the nearest fire-box
and pull the hook is very easy: but how
can the alarm he read ri the ''Quartcrs?"
Every alarm of fire is telcgraphcd to
Headquarters in East S.Nty-scventh street
and thence instantly transmitted tc the
companies III the district in which the
fire is located. Every engine or hool, and
ladder company in that district receives
the signal simultaneously, although some
al item may not have TO so out until a
third alarm is sounded.
Hire alarm boxes are numbered. 50 that
= citizen sounding an alarm from. box No.
j will cause The signal Ii To be iapncl off
"n the gong Of the companies due at the
tire IN HAT district. Tie above signal on
tine bell would lie four strokes. followed
hy pause Of = few seconds and then
four more strokes After 81 lapse Of
fifteen seconds the signal is repeated, but
the company i usually far away from
quarters by that time.
The lire laddie has a Wholesome regard
for Uncle Sans evidences OF debt. i. G..
.rccnbacks, and he is always made good
na,urcd when the signal 4-4-I comes
tapping on tic gong. That means:
''Salary is all ready mt Headquarters "
The signal which, however, makes him
set his teeth and prepare for hard work is
Cts, followed by one round of T. sta
ton. That is thc dreaded three skies.
very rarely sounded, and full Of terrible
import when il is.
The hcsitancy of sounding the three
skies is that that signal, if rung below
Fifty-ninth street, calls every engine and
truck company from that street to the
Battery to the fire. If rung above Fifty.
ninth street, every company from the
Harlem Bridge 10 155th street 1t thus
opens the city to great danger.
At fires of'any magnitude, if accidents
occur which neccssitatc the services of
surgeon and an ambulance, twenty
strokes will call one ambulance, twenty
three strokes three ambuances, and
twenty-five strokes all the available am
balances in the city. Such draft as the
latter upon the city hospitals happily,
however, are seldom made
a system Of drills in the use of the
life lines. scaling ladders, nets and other
appliances adopted by the Fire Com
missioners q couple of years ago is main
tanned for four months each year. Each
member of tho uniformed force under
the age OF forty has to report 10 the
Chief of the Department in turn on drill
! days, unless the Fire Commissioners have
become satisfied that there are good
reasons why any individual member may
be exempt from such work.
The movements selected for the train
ing of the men are entirely practical, as
they are generally put in use by well
regulated companies while in active SER