The herald., 1896-12-26
Fire Ladies' Show How Quickly
They Can Turn Out
NINETEEN SECONDS ENOUGH
The New Engine House the Finest on tine
Pacific Coast
A Full Complement of Permanent Men
Elaborate Electrical Appliances
and the Wonderful Results.


gine house and apparatus on Hill street
near Fourth was given last evening, and
visitors We're shown practical illustra-
ton Of how the fire laddies turn out to
night alarm, and the rapidity of their
movements. At $3.50 the men We're sent
| upstairs, undressed and went to bed,
the house was darkened as 1t will be at
night and everything was quiet.
Assistant Chief Smith called several
witnesses to observe that the men were
really in bed, and then went down to OBJ
serve the result of the alarm Clang!
went the huge gong, at the same in
slant the whole building being lighted
by electricity; the horses, released from
their stalls, jumped to their positions,
down the sliding poles from above came
the men and in just 19 seconds every
piece of apparatus was ready to leave
the house, each man in his place.
OF course it made some slight differ
ence in the time for the reason that as
soon as they thought themselves alone
several Of the men got up, put on their
clothes and at the tap of the gong came
down like a shot to the floor below,
which they probably would not do quite
as quickly were they. to bel awakened
suddenly out of a sound sleep; but new
ertheless remarkably quick work was
done and as the audience did not know of
the ''fudging" indulged in they applaud
ed vigorously.
After the hitch up the visitors were
shown all over the house and the work
ings of all the mechanism explained.
The new hook and ladder truck has not
yet been received, but all the rest of the
apparatus is in place. On the right
hand side of the house three pieces are
lined up. First is the chiefs wagon,
next the hose cart and in the rear the
engine, No. s. The entire left hand side
will be occupied by the hook and lad
der truck when it arrives, which will
probably not be before March next, as
it is now being built in the east. There
is stall room for nine horses, three each
for the engine and truck, two for the
hose wagon and one for the chiefs cart.
At present only two are used in the en-
gne, but this will soon be changed.
To man this apparatus sixteen men
will be required, all of whom are per-
manent paid firemen who are on duty
at the house the entire twenty-four
hours. Eight of these will go with the
hook and ladder. the rest being divided
as follows: Captain Lannon. who has
charge of all the men IN the house, two
drivers for engine and hose cart, an
engineer and four hosemen. On the au-
thority of Assistant Chief Smith it is
stated that when in full running order
this house will be the largest and finest
west of the Rocky mountains, and have
the fullest complement of perma nent
firemen.
Everything in the building has been
constructed according to the latest and
most approved methods. In the old
houses the horses had to run SO feet
from their stalls to their position for
hitching up. In the new house each is
right alongside the apparatus and
few steps brings them to place. The
sliding poles from above are also but
a step from where the horses stand
ready for harnessiTg. The old houses
were also deficient in this respect. the
men having to run 40 feet to reach their
teams. Old Park Hose as an individual
company exists no more, the wagon
now being attached as an adjunct to
engine s, but the men are all there, as
ready for service as of yOre.
The house itself is a fine piece of work
and reflects great credit upon the abil-
| ity of Chief Moore, who suggested most
| of the arrangements, and to Electrician
Francis, who has made the most elab-
crate arrangements by which the subtle
| current seems to do everything at once
| Just inside the great double swinging
doors is the switchboard and electrical
| instruments which control the intricate
mechanism of the whole building. A
| more beautiful piece of work is seldom
| seen, and Mr. Francis prides himself
| that nowhere in the United States is a
| more complete equipment to be found.
| Many of the instruments are of his own
| invention and here applied for the first
| time.
| AS the gong rings every horse is re-
| leased, bells sound all over the house.
! the lights are turned on and the number
| of the box turned in is automatically
| shown on both the indicator and tape
| which instead of passing out of the box
| to be torn off as in the old way, is re-
rolled on another reel and preserved for
reference. While all this is done by the
mere turning in of an alarm any one
horse or light can be released or turned
on at will by the pushing of button,
while the mere ring of the telephone sets
the whole thing going full blast. stops
one clock on the second the alarm is re-
| ceived, etc.
The sanitary arrangements of the
house are as near perfect as is possible,
each stall being connected by separate
trap with the sewer and capable of daily
flushing and cleaning. Upstairs are the
chiefs office and bedroom, furnished in
| an elaborate manner A cosy assembly
and reading room for the men, a large
dormitory, with sixteen white enameled
iron cots, lavatories, ETC., complete the
model engine house of the Pacific coast.
Since they have been installed in the
new quarters not one alarm has been
turned in, aIN the boys are anxiously
awaiting their first run, which will give
them an opportunity of demonstrating,
outside Of practice drills, what they can
do with their new equipment.