Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1892-12-30
AT A FIRE in JAPAN.
FUNNY LlLLlPUTlAN METHODS or
JAPANESE FlREMEN.

Judgment In Their Work.
Suddenly our practiced ears caught the
distant boom Of the fire bell. Everybody
else heard it and the effect was electrical.
While one Of the men ran up the ladder
and began to hammer away &C our station
| bell, the officers hurried on their uniforms
and sprang ON to their horses, kept ready
caparisoned. the captain arming himself
with huge wisp of horsehair, the lieu
tenant seizing his standards spear, from
the end of which hung horse tail Mean
while, with much shouting and no doubt
bad language, the brigade" had harnessed
itself to the three squirts, and the process
sion was formed--officers leading. engines
next, hook and ladder men with as three
/ visitors bringing up the rear. Out we
went into the snowbound street, up which
La fierce northeaster was sweeping. All
| Shinagawa seemed to have sprung into
active life during the few minutes which
had elapsed since the first notes Of the flre
/ bell.
| Men, women and children swarmed out
of every doorway, clustered about the first
floor balconies, and even crowded the roofs,
all chattering, gesticulating and uttering
exclamations of terror and wonder as they
gazed at the broad lurid glare in the sky.
| Far away rs they were from the scene OF
confiagration, there was no retiring after
their first curiosity had been satisfied. A
| man in Victoria street, Westminster, who
sees the reflection Of fire. say, in the city,
! may go to bed with certain sense OF se-
curity, but because two or three miles
separate the Japanese spectator from the
burning houses he can be by no means sure
that in the course of an hour or no he may
not have to rush out OF his house with as
many of his Lares and Penates as he can
gather together.
When we reached the locality Of the fire
| q striking scene was presented to our eyes.
/ From half dozen houses the flames were
bursting forth with almost demoniacal
noise and fury Half dozen more had
already been Quilted and were mere shape
less shells of smoldering timber. Hun
dreds of men and women were staggering
out of the houses in the line of fire beneath
the weight of their humble household
goods, while piles Of bedding, domestic
utensils, stocks in trade and all sorts Of
lumber lay about in the snow. More than
once quartet OF men swiftly passed us,
bearing on their shoulders shapelcss
something wrapped in dark cloth, and we
knew that the fire had claimed other vic
tins than mere shanties OF paper and
wood. Our squirts got to work with COM
mendable smartness and, as there hap
pened to be an abundance of water, were
soon pouring their feeble dribbles on the
flames
Thudl thudl, thudl went the squirt han
dies, but the flames seemed to roar with
laughter and dance as II in mockery of the
poor little thin streams Of water which
were turned OH them, and drove the lieu
tenant from house to house with such ra-
pidity that more than once it seemed as II
nothing but a miracle could save him.
Meanwhile the hook and ladder corps was
hard at work. and il we smiled with con-
tempt at the pnny efforts OF the engines
we could not withhold our hearty applause
at the indomitable pluck, the energy and
the activity OF the poor little fellows who
manipulated the hooks and ladders. Sal
amander-like, they seemed to revel in work
where the flames were fercest and the dan
ger greatest.
But cui bono all this heroic dash and
self sacrifice unbacked by common sensei
We three representatives of the west
watched it all with almost feeling OF
pocketing, such wanton destruction of
hearths and homes, such u risking Of valu-
able lives should be tolerated by people
in SO many other respects advanced think
ers and practical reformers. One engine
from Waiting street or single American
fire company could have nipped the fire in
the bud an hour before, but we were in
vited guests, and besides. being quite
aware of the delicate grounds upon which
the relationship between US ard our Japa-
nese hosts stood, were diffident In proffer-
. ing advice.
But at last we could stand it no longer,
for the fire, ably seconded in its ravages
by brisk northeast wind, threatened to
consume the entire quarter as far as the
city boundaries. SO We pushed our way
forward to where the captain was thunder
. ing anathemas and exhortations in man
! Der which plainly betrayed that he had
lost self control, and with due humility
|, suggested that II the hook and ladder com
. pany was to turn its attention to group
. of yet unburned houses standing in the
direct line OF the fire instead OF wasting
energy worthy Of q better cause upon houses
which nothing could save gap would be
created over which the flames. furious as
they were, would hardly leap.
n The old gentleman did not welcome ouI
suggestion with enthusiasm, nor did We
, expect that be would. Indeed he affected
to treat it cayalierly, and under the plea
that we were standing in dangerous posi-
tion motioned us back into the crowd. But
we had the satisfaction Of observing thai
the extreme urgency Of the situation had
prompted him to act on our advice, and We
presently saw the hook and ladder com
pany Timber up and dash of at the double
toward the group Of houses indicated by
us The inhabitants Of these shanties
squatting outside with their heaps Of
goods and chattels, evidently clinging with
! true Old World tenacity to the hope that
' the gods or the fremen or something
i would stave calamity off their homes, re
i monstrated warmly when the hook and
/ ladder men told them they were about
!, to take the unheard Of step of pulling
1 down untouched houses, but the captak
g riding up soon slenced their objections In
/ a harangue which from its sound was evi
!. IDENTIFY very much more forcibe than ele
4 uaut and the work ~ obstruction 0r rather