The Jersey City news., 1898-11-05


There are no braver or more heroic char
acters than American firemen. Many and
thrilling are their escapes and adventures.
In many instances the fearless men meet
death Tales of their deeds excite our ad-
miration, and the firemen themselves
when they get together love to compare
notes and recite their adventures. At
recent gathering of chiefs from all parts
of the country an afternoon was spent In
telling experiences.
Chief George Knaf1iack of Mansfield,
O., described the rescue of $50 pound
woman from burning hotel. He said
ssFire broke out in one of tho hotels
about O'Clock on a February morning.
We were quickly on the scene. All the
guests were warned, and it was supposed
that they had all escaped. / had gone into
the hotel and placed all the lines OF hose
I stood still for an instant in the rotunda,
looking about to see what should be done
next, when thought heard low moan.
listened intently, and SO family could
scarcely hear it came the cry Helpl' 1t
was woman S voice. 1t came from above.
81 glanced up the stairway. The en-
tire upper part of the house seemed to be
L
anybody could live up there. But the cry
for help came again.
"It was inviting almost certain suffoca-
tion to go above, but fell on my knees
and crawled up to the second story as fast
as / could The woman was not there.
crawled through the corridor and on up
to the next floor
II found the woman, unconscious, ly-
ing on the floor l picked her up tshe
weighed IS0 pounds) and, holding my
breath, ran as fast as / could down the
two flights of stairs
ssShe was in bed week after from the
effects of it.
Marrow escapes? Yes, have had a
few. Once l was on a roof playing a
stream The roof caved in. AS was go
ing down with it to what l thought would
be certain cremation my trousers caught
| at the ankles on some spikes in the rafters.
hung suspended head down above the
| fire. Clouds of smoke mixed with flame
poured up around me- My hair was singed
and my flesh was scorched, but the boys
came and got hold of my legs and yanked
me away to a cooler place Yes it was
rather close call. :"
A. j. Kennedy, ex-chief of the fire de-
partment at New Haven, now retired with
| a pension, had an experience six years ago
| a fireman would not often survive.
There was fire in d hotel, = he said.
! sUp in the building were some of the
! boys. There was freight elevator in the
| place, and the carriage was at the floor
where l was working ran across it sew
| eral times and tried it again after the
smoke was SO thick could not see the
ropes of the carriage had burned off, and
| it had dropped to the bottom. went in
/ head first and landed that way at the foot
| of the shaft, where the boys found me aft
er they had conquered the fire. heavy
| fireman's hat saved my skull Whenever
/ read of a man falling down an elevator
shaft now I always say, Kennedy, you
know just how he felt about iton the way
down. +"
! Chief Henry LEMON of Grand Rapids
tells blue ribbon fire story for which
all the firemen of his city will vouch.
alwas at the burning of acarpet sweep
| er factory said he "A fireman was
caught in the top floor, the sixth story
We could not get to him with the ladders,
and he could not get down on the inside.
| He backed out on the sill of a window and
| swung there a moment with his face to
| the wall Then he dropped We could not
imagine what he was trying to do. When
his body shot by the fifth floor window di-
!, rectly beneath, the fellow lunged forward,
| threw his arms out and caught In the win
! dow We cheered him. He rested mo-
ment and dropped again This time he
| almost missed his window, but hs finally
got up, and the people and the fremen
cheered him on Once more he dropped.
and at the next window my men took him
| on a ladder. His arms were terribly
bruised, but he had escaped with his life.
He was the coolest, most desperate man
ever saw.
{ Chief Moses NJ. Murray Of Burlington,
| vt, tells story OF an experience ne had
/ in bis city few years ago. was In q
( burning building, says the chief, on
the ground aoor We had been fighting
| fkesfire in rho upper floors. bllf y Ind gof
beypnd us, and We we're getting out 70
escana xhe Malls Nhen tho sbould fslt \