Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1891-08-25
WITH AN AMBULANCE.
BUSY scs:.c or THE DAILY LIFE
or a CITY SURGEON.

Accident. Disaster. Crime and Desperate
Emergency Telephone and Telegraph
Police service on IT Tie Thrilling Of : |
Bell Who's Hurt?
There is something that makes the blood |!
Zap and the heart beat quicker about that |
somber, black wagon with the gilt letters |
''Ambulancen and the name Of it, hospital |
on the side. Az we hear the quick ciang 81
Its bell and see it swing round the corner pnd |
dash down the street, with wheels rafting
over the stones and galIoping horse straining
in the harness, while trucks and wagons
turn hurriedly out Of its path. there are few
who do not feel something OF thrill and
turn to look after it. It calls up 70 wildly
ideas of accident or disaster, Of desperate
emergency, one would like to know what has
happened and wonders whether IL Is . -
| rious occurrence.
| The surgeon knows. but the rasserby isleft
| to speculate whether that rushing horse is
carrying his freight to give speedy succor to
| the victims OF some frightful calamity. and
| will go back TO the hospital with mass Of
mangled humanity moaning behind him, o.
| whether there will be found merely some
/ wretched topper, inert and senseless from
drink There are G NEEDLES as well as tra1e-
| dies in the ambulance service, but the dark
| succession Of the latter Is only broken by an
occasional lighter incident. There is enough
/ Of accident and crime in great city to keep
/ the ambulance only too busy and make the
! service a responsible and serious one Per
| haps, therefore, readers will be interested to
| see little Of the inside OF the ambulance
service, what work it has to do and how it
does it.
i 1t is nearly s O'Clock in the evening when
we ring the bell OF the hospital The aInbs:
lance surgeon for the night is sitting at his
window reading medical journal Appa-
ratus for communications telephone box, q
messenger call, an electric gong-are con-
spicuous on the clean white wall. By them
hang the rules for the ambulance service Of
the hospital and the list of stations and sig
mails, a system Of numbers which are rung
out upon the electric bell This is in ccnnec-
ton with the same wires that constitute the
police Geographic and telephone system and
that communicate with the different pre-
cinct stations and the little red boxes of the
fire alarms.
From police headquarters or the precincts
can be sent the four sharp taps
two rings twice-that means ambulance
wanted Then follow the taps that tell
where each crossing Of two prominent streets
has its distinctive number, which is rung out
op the bell In case Of great emergency, fire
or calamity, the ''hurry calf i-3-2. is rung
over the police bell, or twenty taps on the
fire bell, followed by the number Of the box.
That is when the horse lies down to his col
lar, and corners are swung at top speed; for
sometimes five seconds make the difference
of life or death.
On an ordinary call only fair speed-s
= Star ~. tr.r.t-is mazda IN, -.
casions every ambulance ON service in the
city has been called out. Such an occasion
was the frightfui crush on the Brooklyn
bridge in 1883; another was when the Bud
densiek buildings on Sixty-ninth street fell
in 1885, and sixty men were supposed to have
) been buried; and again in the great Gram
Q street fire i'll the seventies. There are TWEEN
ty-one in all that can be called.
Each hospital has its own district in ths
5 city, covering from two TO four of the poles
!, precincts, an area, on an average, of about
four square miles. At intervals of about two
g blocks through the district there are firs
< alarm boxes. each Of which has its distinctive
:, number Prominent buildings, such as schoo
Q houses, theatres. Tammany hall and the like
a also have their box, by which special sigma
S may be sent out. Often. also, excited citizen
h telephone from their offices that man i
s lying dead at the corner, and on the arriva
a of the ambulance the supposed corpse ha
t vanished and has been often chased fo
t blocks for the necessar, particulars for re
l. port of its name and address
a While the doctor is telling all this, in mic
e explanation the electric bell tinkles sharply
o one. two; one, two-and then the number
+ that tell the locality. He does not have t
y look at the list to recognize them; snatchin;
II his cap, he says: 'sCome along; corner O
L Bowery and Spring street. and starts dow
J stairs two steps at a time The driver i
t there already; The horse, buckled in the drol
d harness that hung over him in his stall an
K harnessed to the ambulance in somethin;
under thirty seconds, plunges through tn
opened gate as we swing in behind.
We slide about on the smooth, leather coy
Q cred seat and hang on to the straps wit
n swelling biceps as we rattle around the cor
Is ner Clang. sounds the bell, and a heav,
( truck turns out of the way, while childre
scuttle out of the street and men and wome
= fly to windows or pause on the pavement
II As we near Spring street we collect cor
stantly growing train of followers, and tn
ID street becomes dense in our trail with boy
Is of all sizes and ages, little girls and big girl
W even MN, and women with babies in thei
It arms They want to see something interes
ii ing, to have sensation: they scent blood
d We pull up before great brick tenemer
,e that is all alive in an instant with heads OF
le of windows. and before the horse is turne
ar there are 200 people about US. Children il
Vulnerable, the little girls with their bar
rs heads and short calico dresses more anxior
Sc to see even than the little boys; big girls j
ct loose ginghams, holding up babies in the
es arms, big boys with bad hats, wives an
50 grandmothers with anxious faces, men
ii shirt sleeves or no sleeves at ALL out for Il
4. cool evening air after their days work, ar
ut a torrent OF talk. What is it, Who's hur
ne 1t is a drunken man, it is woman fainte,
Id it is boy killed, it's surstroke, its tigh
OF A policeman comes TO the door; benin
him a scared, sobbing girl, who is il
I mediately hailed with questions by doze
III voices. She cannot answer. "A boy fell Q
IS the fire escape, three Stories the officer e
r. plains, as we go up stairs into the little roor
k where the boy, a dark haired littlf lad of d
o. I, lies on the bed, while the rest OF the roo
be Is filed with women. These, except ii
er mother, the doctor orders out with bri
It. vigor. Very still the boy lies, as the surgec
in gently lifts and touches his head, his bod
IL his limbs No fracture to be found, no u
parent wound or confusion. The ammon
bottle comes out of the bag, and little on
tuft of cotton is held at his nostrils. II
boy stirs, twists little, opens his eyes Al
ht stares ''N here are You hurt, johnny
"Ain't hurt nowhere, says he. succlnctl
And as a matter of fact his dlagnoS
on proves to be correct. Further careful e
he animation reveals no injury, and he does n
.l,,,, it1ssa,- dam and