Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-07-09
MAKING Fo. THE HYpRAN1.
The Simple Meth ID by which the Engine
Always Gets to the Right One.

4 The Simple Meth ID by which the Engine
Always Gets to the Right One.
To the bystander who sees q fire engine
,ome dashing up to a hydrant 1t might
.asily seem, from his confident manner Of
approach, as though the driver had known
rom the start just what hydrant he was to
AXE and had been all the time making for
hat particular one. As matter Of fact,
| he driver starts out Of the engine house
without knowing what hydrant he Is to
hke and he may net know until he is
within a few seconds drive Of 1t. Still
there Is never a moments uncertainty
about the engines movements, and 1t
never slows down. 1t goes straight for
the hydrant without the slightest delay.
In answering ten calls from the same sta
ton an engine may make as many different
hydrants, but it goes to the right hydrant
every time, anG the manner of determining
what hydrant it shall take is extremely
| simple.
Every engine hooks up at every alarm.
On first alarms 1t goes out only to fires
within its own district. When an alarm
is sounded, the horses rush to the engine,
catch or two are snapped, and the team
stands hooked up ready to start. 1t Is all
the work of very few seconds. But the
harness is still held by the hanger from
which it is suspended, not to be let go un-
less the call is one which the engine an
swers. The driver Is up. With the last
stroke, II 1t calls the engine, the captain
says, "GoF' Just a slight twitch of the
reins frees the harness from the hanger,
and 1t drops into place on the horses
backs. If 1t Is in winter, the door is
thrown open; II in summer, the chain is
dropped, and away goes the engine, with
the horses on the gallop, in the direction
of the station whence the alarm has come,
but without anybody knowing what hy-
drant it is to take.
The only man besides the driver who
rides on the engine is the captain of the
company or the officer In charge; he rides
standing on the rear of the engine. All the
rest of the company ride on the tender. Two
blocks away from the signal box the cap
tain jumps to the ground and runs ahead
of the engine to locate the fire. He may
find 1t before he comes to the box, or 1t
may be beyond it. The location of the fire
may be revealed by flames or smoke, or,
perhaps, by the presence of people standing
in front of the building in which the fire
is, or by persons in the building itself. 1t
may be that there are no such indications;
that there are no visible indications what
ever. But almost invariably the policeman
or whoever gave the alarm remains stand
ing by the box until the first engine comes
up. He knows just where the fire is, and
from him, in case he has not discovered
it himself, the captain learns its location
In an exceedingly brief space Of time.
It may be around the corner. A wave of
the captains hand as he starts on again Is
enough for the driver, who has all the
time kept coming Then is the time when
the bystanders in the side street might
easily imagine that the driver had known
from the start just what hydrsnt be was
to take, for he sees the engine come tear
ing around the corner, the driver oaloulat-
ing the turn with the greatest nicely and
Strengthening up and coming down the
street booming, making for that bydrant
as though he had never dreamed of taking
any other.
The simple fact is that the fire, having
| been located, he is taking the hydrant
nearest to 1t. 1t Is always sought to take
| the hydrant nearest the fire. He comes up
with rush, firemen yank of suction
pipe and connect the engine with the hy-
drant and the engine is ready for business.
The captain is in the building. He sees at
glance whether water is needed. If 1t is,
he orders line of hose stretched and then
begins the work of putting out the fire.
| New York Sun.