The record-union., 1898-11-20
JOY OYER FIRE ENGINES.
WHY WIN. BECKMAN LIKES TO
SEE THEM FLY.
He Tells q Story to Remove the
Suspicion That He IL .
Fire-Bug.

.I am a mystery to many of my
friends" said President William Beck
man of the Peoples Savings Bank
few days ago. and suppose there are
some staid old fellows with rheumatics
so annoying that they are frightened
to death if a team passes them in
dog trot, who suppose that am either
monomaniac on fires, or perhaps they
think I'm a fire bug. There is an easy
explanation to all this, though" said
MIR. Beckman. and guess might as
we'll explain why am sucn a mystery
to some Of my friends.
The hearty bank President, who is
still full of life and athletic energy
then told the following tale:
You saw the fire wagons rushing by
here a few minutes ago, I suppose"
he began. .Wel, I'll admit they buzzed
past at a pretty good gait. A friend OF
mine was with me, and he gasped
with fright when they rumbled by
clapping his hands over his heart as II
he had been an old woman, saying:
My. how fast they run!' I suppose the
old fellow thought they'd shake down
the Golden Eagle Hotel, but that's be-
cause he never saw speed.
'.I said. with a sort of exultant cry
that might be called a half war whoop,
IS blazes, let them run! the faster
the better!'
why on earth are you so reck-
less?' he asked; why is it that a
strange light comes over you when
ever these firemen race through the
streets?' and the nervous old fellow
looked at me as if he thought I was
touched in the head.
Its the old experience with me.
Good friends have said to me, on the
quiet, 'Beckman, you are q banker,
property-owner, a law-abiding citizen
You were once Fire Commissioner here,
and why do you act like a Comanche
when the engines plow down street at
breakneck speed?' So it's abouN time
for me to explain lest I be arrested for
my conduct or suspected of being
fire bug" and he said:
"These fellows think they're making
speed, and those who watch them fly
ing down street think it's frightfui.
Why, bless your soul, two to four
horses on a fire engine are nothing!
These people don't kE:w what speed
isl"
you see, when I was nineteen years
old was Superintendent Of a stage line
that covered nearly 1000 miles, and
when I was Is I was crack stage
driver from Elgin to Chicago. In
those old times we drove six spirited
horses hitched to an old Concord
coach. Bless your soul, had a run
under orders to get there first. There
We're competitive lines. and all we
knew was that we simply had to beat
the other fellows. Our rule was to
trust in the Lord, drive like--I won't
say what-stay with the coach till the
breeching busted-and therr. jump.
Hundreds upon hundreds of times I've
sat up there on the box, lashing my
six horsesT gthrough Lake street, Chi
cago, until they were going it as hard
as they could tear. It was excite
ment, TIL tell you, and many time the
women in the coaches have shrieked
and tainted, though the game ones
used to wave their handkerchiefs and
fans, and yell with the spirit of true
sports to see us beating the rival line.
In fact, we raced through Chicago, and
could not have gone faster If our lives
had depended on 1t, so what Is fire
engine to an old fellow like me? 1t
makes me feel young again, and causes
that queer light to come to my eyes
that's all.
Nearly every day we'd smash some
thing or other-bust a wagon tongue,
kill a team ora horse, run over some
body, or tear a wheel off his wagon.
When they saw Bill coming they
thought bedlan1 had turned loose. Ar
rested, do you say? Lord, I've been
arrested a, hundred times. That was
nothing. The company always took us
out and fought the cases to a finish.
That was a wonderful experience for
q young fellow, wasn't it? Now, do
you wonder that a. Sacramento fire run
seems a tame affair to me. / say this
with all respect to the Sacramento Fire
Department, which is all right-none
sWifter or better in the land"
G. A. Nea1e's New Location.