Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-12-15
NEW YORKs FIREMEN.
ADMIRABLE QUALITIES REQUIRED
OF APPLICANTS.

Education OF tho Men Before They Aro
Appointed--rcsts of Prolciency--whAt
Constitutes u Firemap--Courago IL Very
Es-cntiaI-sIust Bear smoke.
ssFirct The house Is on fire." When that
crs h heard In a building panic seizes upon
the inmates and indescribable confusion
ensnes. Some one runs to sfire box and
sends IN an alarm, which sounds In every
engine house in this city.
Tbe response ON the part Of the firemen
and their horses is immediate. There Is
haste without laundering. there is no in
reference OF one manwith another. Eager
ness to be of and resolution to work are
depicted on each mans face. In ten sec
onds the drivers are on their seats. lines in
hand, waiting the order TO go. II Is given.
aud away they dash, the horses needing no
urging the men clinging with one hand TO
a rail Of the cart, wriggling into their rub
Der coats. Not many minutes later they
are on the ground, the hose Is attached to
the hydrant, ladders are run up aud the
battle with the fire begins
The inmates of the burning building.
who a few minutes before were panic
stricken, regain confidence. Our firemen,
who without hesitation, plunge into a
burning building are men who at one
time In life were liable as any one to
fire panic" which influences men TO do
very foolish and cowardly things. That
they are not so now is due 10 the training
they receive and the trials TO which they
are subjected Let us follow the course
which an applicant for appointment TO the
fire department in this city must undergo
before he can wear the badge, which is the
q taaa fv
TRIAL OF QUALIFICATION.
After being recommended by the fire
commissioners for appointment the appli-
cant il examined as 10 his physical quail
fications. II they are up TO the standard
he II turned over to the civil service COM
missioners for examination to his
knowledge of the common school branches.
II he passes he il sent to headquarters.
where he enters the school OF instruction
of the life saving corps, of which the drill
master Is Mr. Henry W. McAdams He
has had charge of the school since its organ
ization in 1882. No one can go behind his
returns; there is not political pull enough
in the city TO secure the appointment of
man whom he rejects. IL is in this school,
and during the thirty days he is In train
ing, that the applicant proves his fitness
or unfitness 20 be enrolled in the service.
The New York fire department has u
complete gymnasium, where, besides the
apparatus for the development and
strengthening of the muscles, are all the
appliances it has In use. Thorough in
struction Is given to the applicant by Mr..
McAdaIns, himself veteran fireman, as
10 their purpose and proper handling
Familiarity with these appliances is abso-
lutely indispensable TO celebrity on the part
of "A fireman. whose essential characteristic
must be quickness A slow man has no
chance for appointment in thedepartment.
TRAINING PRoBATIoNERs.
Practitioners are also taught morality in
an indirect yet forCible manner. Remem-
bering that their calling demands of them
courage and honesty, the probationer who
is with some company, either In the engine
house or at fire, feels that he Is associa-
ting with men who are gentle in their man
ners respectful and obedient to superiors.
ready at any instant to hold the muzzle
close against fame that menaces them
with DEATH aud who would not disgrace
their uniform. If he has the true stuff in
him he will soon conform with them in
thought, purpose and demeanor, and ON
every occasion emulate them in zeal and
honor
The cultivation of good manners and
other qualities that constitute a man Is
taught In an unobtrusive way For in
stance, the applicant learns the story or the
fire st Chambers street and Broadway.
years ago, when the employees Of q bank
rushed into the street, leaving sloO, 900 In
cash on the counters. The firemen ran in,
gathered the money together, threw it into
the safe, and locked the safe door When
the money was taken out and counted only
50 was missing, and that consisted of silver
dollars, which In the excitement had prob
ably rolled away. Hearing such story
the applicant of the right material ia very
likely TO resolve TO behave with equal hon
esty nc every fire TO which he is called.
MEN OF NATURAL COURAGE
Men are natural towards where there's
"a fire, said Capt. McAdams TO me Put
all Barnum's wild animals in that lot over
there and then drop child among them.
and In nine cases out of ten the father of
that child will go In after it. But let there
be an alarm OF fire in the house in the night
time and that same man will run into the
street and leave his child behind have
never seen a man suffocated at a fire with
child in his arms, but l have seen women
lying dead from suffocation with a child in
each arm. The mans first thought is to
get into the street when he hears the house
Is on fire. The woman's first thought Is
her children"
The probationers are, no doubt, naturally
courageous, and each one resolves to be as
heroic as any man who has won the Ben
nett medal; but when there Is fire and
they ''go in" with the firemen their true
metal is shown. The captain's eye is on
them. II they waver he sees 1t, but If they
resolutely hold their facee to the fire and
obey orders, no matter if the smoke is thick
enough TO be cut and If their teeth are chat
tering loud enough to be heard, above the
cracking of the flames, he knows that they
are of the right stuff and reports favorably
upon them. II an applicant cannot stand
the smoke, which, Capt. McAdams says,
feels in your throat as If some fellow were
trying to force you to swallow baseball"
he is dropped from the list-Epoch.