Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-02-19
JApAN.s FIRE BRIGADE.
The FireImen of the aIikado's Realm at
 Their Gymnnstlc Exercises.

The Bremen of the AIiixadO's Realm at Their Gyrnnnatlc Exercises.
 No country is so much exposed to fires as Japan. In one week recently i've thousand houses were burned down in Tolsio alone, and in the next week fif- teen thousand houses were destroyed in that city, while Sir Rutherford Al cock states that Tolzio loses as many houses as constitute the entire city every ten years. The houses, with the exception of the tiles on the roof, are constructed entirely of wood, and the windows are formed of fine and often beautiful lace work covered with paper. Some buildings in Japan are thatched, while the roofs of others are formed of little slate-like flakes of wood, but these so readily take fire if sparks fall upon them that the Japanese prefer taking the risk of injury from falling tiles during the earth quake to being in even greater | danger from fires than they necessarily must always even now be. | It is strange that in these days, when so many young natives have come to Europe to study the sciences, their ac- quired knowledge of chemistry has not caused them to adopt some means of | rendering the wood of which their
 houses are constructed, and even the | paper of the windows, incombustible.
 They have, however, in the large towns,
 most efficient fire brigades, and have
 even the newest and best fire engines
 of European or American make, but
 these are of much less use than might
 be imagined, for the supply of water is
 limited, and the engine without water
 is a mere mockery. Over every house
 door is placed sign indicating that
 there is one well on the premises, or
 sometimes we see two or more of these
 signs, indicating that two or more
 wells will be found in that building, and thus the fremen Know the sources
 of their water supply, and from these ] wells alone can water be had.
 The scarcity of water renders it nee
 essary that all buildings surrounding
 any that may have taken fire be pulled
 down, so that the burning mass be iso
 lated, for there is no hope of prevent ing the spreading of the conf1agratior by the water from the engines, and ii , is this necessity which causes the fire mems drill in Japan to appear SC
 strange and grotesque to the European Each fireman is furnished with sort O. hook, intended for use in pulling dowr , the houses, but the question arises as tC , where the man is tO stand while en , gagged in his work of destruction. A lad der is held upright by number of men , who hold it firmly by these hooks; anC it is up ladder thus held that the fire
 men go to pull down the houses whicf a are to be destroyed in case of a fire f The chief exercises of the men consis
 in ascending the ladder and lean
 ing out from it in a horizonta
 manner, using the hook while f holding on by the feet, and in all sort f of acrobatic feats which seem calcu r lated to aid them in their work. Some ? times a man ascends the ladder anC
 stands in an inverted position on thu
 top round. At other times he grasp e one side of the ladder with his hand
 and throws his body ont horizontally so that he may have free use of hi IT feet-and it must be remem bered tha ? the Japs can do much more with thei
 feet than we can with ours-but tn . chief exercise consists in holding b, f the feet and using the hooks with tn . | hands.
 The firemen are arranged in corps < each of which is headed by the beare s of a large lantern in the form of som
 curious distinctive device, from whicl T cut papers, religious emblem, depend a and we have seen corps slowly ant
 solemnly marching to a fire, heade, with this insignia, just as though i
 were taking part in funeral proces
 sion, instead of hurrying as become
 those concerned in subduing that fear
 ful element, 6re.-London Graphic.