Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1891-06-26
FIRES In JAPAN.
HOW THEY ARE FOUGHT BY Ma
TIVE FIREMEN.
Fire Ladders That Serve q Triple
Purposc-A Comical Little Fire
Engine-Firemen's Paradcs~
One Great Fire.

Recorder. While we ourselves were in
Toxic there was fire at Asakusa, one OF
the suburbs, which swept off 400
hundred houses in one nicht.
The houses at Asakusa, it is true,
since they arc inhabited almost en-
tirely by the poorer classes, don't amount
to much. A fifty-dollar bill would buy
a good many of them, ground and all.
They arc merely wooden frames, with
sides made of paper shutters (shojD and
wooden outside shutters to put up at
night or in very rainy weather. The
roofs arc covered with the heavy chan
need tiles in use all over Japan. Fires
are great fun in Japan. 1t Is almost
impossible to take them seriously. As
nearly all the houses are one-storied and
so fimsy that you can kick your way
through them, person can hardly be
burned unless he is asleep. But two
storicd house fire gives most fun, for it
is here that the bamboo ladder and the
Swiss milking pail come into play.
Every japanese fire brigade conducted
upon national principles has one or more
ladders made of green bamboo, with
their rungs lashed on, and the lashings
very likely Of paper twine. These are
used for acrobatic displays at the New
Years festival and for fires. In the lat
ter, if the fire is not too dangerous to be
tackled, the ladder is propped up against
the roof, and one man, mounting it,
stands on the roof, and one or two more
stand at arm 's-resch intervals on the lad
der, and half a dozen Others bring them
the buckets, which look like Swiss milk
inp-palls, and hold about a gallon Of
wafer each. These are passed up and
emptied by hand.
This, however, does not, as might
have been supposed from a study of the
japanese constitute the whole fire sub
DUNG apparatus. There is a native fire
engine, (water kago), looking like a
water trough, fitted with Ind, and slaves
for carryiugit like those used lin pictures)
for tn, Ark Of the Covenant. 1t would
90 inside the average Saretoga trunk,
and is fitted with a bamboo pipe and
nozzle through which water can be
squirtcd, but without the power or the
volume Of a garden hydropult.
A man runs in front of this car ring
inc a bell or blowing Il horn, because the
population are not supposed to be able
TO take care of themselve; in the matter
of being run over. 1t is usually escorted
by number of fremen with axes, which
are bamboos about six feet long with a
little pick or hook for head. The
fierceness with which the japanese can
contest the flames may be gathered from
the fact that they wear cotton dresses
and use paper lanterns. They also carry
a huge paper standard to every fire,
shaped like an orange, about a foot and
half in diameter, with paper fringe "A
foot long stuck on the end of a six foot
pole. This is planted at a respectful dis
tance from the fire, and the firemen gen
orally stand by it till the fire has burned
itself out into reasonableness. 1t is
white, and has the crest of the guild
painted upon it in black. There are about
seventy of these guilds in Toxic, and they
usually have from forty to fifty members
each.
The fire station is like any other Japan
ese house of the poorer sort, except for
its lookout, which is tall poll assembled
by n bamboo ladder with a sort of cross
tree at the top for the watchman to stand
on, anS big alarm bell for him to ring.
Or very often it will Saonly a tall ladder,
planted firmly at the J ttom, rising per
pendicularly into the air with bell hung
at the top.
The frcmen's great day out is on the
fourth day of the New Year Festival,
when they 90 in procession through the
principal streets of Tioko, especially the
Gina, the main street. Each guild goes
about separately with lis paper banner in
front, and its coolies, in new dresses of
dark blue cotton, tunic with a marvel
Gus red or white design on the back
the guild badge tight-6tting hose,
which make them look, for all the world,
like the varlets of the Shakespearan
stage or attendants in Perugiuo's pict-
ures. At intervals they halt, rear Que of
their tall, green bamboo ladders perpeu
dicularly in the air, and, crowding
around, help to hold it up or steaiy it
with their fire axes. Then they ascend
in turn aud acrobatizo on the top in
way that suggests that all japanese fire
men must be acrobats, even if all Japan
csc acrobats are not firemen.
The performer will one minute be
standing on his head on the top Of one
of the uprights OF the perpendicular
ladder, and the next be supporting him
self stiff out at right angles to the ladder.
The populacc crowd around, laugh,
chatter and applaud but, as far as |
could make out, no collection was taken
up, which was decided irreguarity
from more civilized standpoint. There
has been one historical fire in Japan,
which, in point OF mortality, probably
puts even the great fire Of London into