Evening journal., 1899-02-23


half-suffocated men crawled out on the
man roof Of the elevator.
Far below. blurring together into one
vision of white. thousand anxious. up.
turn, faces gazed at them. A faint
shout OF relief came up In one sv,r
glance the 1remen saw the fire ting
the pride Of the department. coughiis
and gnuntiug in the river below; They
saw twentyis leads cooling freight cars
on the siding; they saw the tops of
the streams Of water that came almost
up to them. then opened like white bios.
SONS and fell back in spray. They could
bear the shrill squealing OF the en-
cines for coal. the rush aud roar OF
the Gre. and then the shouts OF the
marshal. borne up TO them family
above the din;
Come down. come down."
But going down was not such an easy
matter. At their feet The edge Of the
slate roof. built something like a man
surd. pitched on steep angle dozen
feet downward TO n narrow ledge sup
porting the rain-gutter Six yards
from the bottom. the top OF n four-inch
s,and-pipe crooked over the edge Of the
roof.
Down below the marshal was calling
their attention in pantomime TO this
pipe. It was their only salvation.
They knew that we'll enough.
"Can you do it2" asked Wendi. with.
out quaver IN his voice.
II thinl, | can" was Qurh's answer.
Its better than burning"
Quirk's lips set tight. A fireman Is
trained to take chances, but not such
chances as these. lie sat down on the
edge of the roof. with his feet hanging
over. He must slide down the steep
slate mansard. now slippery with wa
ter and covered with cinders. and he
must stop. II he could. Mt the gutter
ledge. which was only few inches
wide. II he did not stop-the little
planks Of the court were hundred feet
below.
A fireman may not think OF his wife
or Of HRS babies at such a time. lie must
act without tnemor and take his
chances.
Quirl slid. Ills rubber boots struck
the ledge. his body bounded up, for a
moment he stood balanced like tight
rope walker on the glztter ledge aud
then he fell back on the slate mansard.
safe. Below a thousand men with
clenohed hands aud bitten lips groaned
their relief.
Gies came next. Quirk, who had
steadied himself, caught him. Then
Gies caught Christianson, and Chris
hanson caught Fuller. 1t was nov
Greenman's turn. Greenman was blue
about the lips. He told Scanlon tha'
it was terrible risk TO take.
STEADY. nowl" shouted Wendt
hoarsely. Don't look down."
Greenman slid. He looked at th'
same moment. His rubber boot strucl
the ledge, caught-then slipped
'Im losti" he shouted, as his bod.
shot dizzily over the brink.
"No, you aren't" growled Fuller
grimly. He had caught Greenman b.
the collar.
a moment both men tottered on tn
ledge, one below and one above.
merciful burst OF smoke shot up ant
!, wiped out the horrid sight from th
crowd. When it passed Greenman wa
lying limp on the Ledge. with Fuller
hand yet twisted in his collar.
, The other men followed without &C
, cident, Wcndt last. Then began ih
perilous journey along the IS feet o
ledge TO the stand-pipe. Quirk led
, sliding along the slippery State man
sard, never trusting one foot in tn
narrow gutter until the other was firm
I From below it seemed as II the tei
i. men were walking on air. So close {
the edge Of the roof did they tread tha
the crowd saw the bottom Of each foo
. as II was lifted.
= At last Quirlx clasped the sinnd-pip
y and slid swiftly downward. Then cam
Gies and Fuller in order.
e Hurry, therel" shrieked yoic
e above the roar of the fire. "The roc
= is going to fall"
k At that moment there was a cras
e and bright burst of fame benin
+ them. Greenman, still terrified, reele
wildly.
h STEADY, there" roared Wendt. at
{. only the belt house-not the roof"
4 Greenman. Scanlon, Christianso
IT went one after the other, splnnin
e down the iron stsndpipe like boys on
h peeled pole. until only Wendt was lef
C Hurry hurryl" came again th
d marshal's voice. A great stream Of WI
D. ter drenched fame that had sprun
l. out just below the gutter where WenC
{. stood. The crowd was silent, wit
n every muscle tense.
Ie Wendt grasped the staud-ppe, no
s almost burning hot, and slid. An II
slant later he was swallowed up
d smoke and flame. There was the groy
fl Of yielding timbers, then a sullen roa
y and a volcano of FIRE poured upward OF
1T OF the elevators pit. The roof hr
2 fallen.
ly Two firemen ran forward with the
n- helmets TO the heat and dragg'
" Wendt away. Hishair and his eyebrow
were singed. His hands were raw Wi
>e burns.
ne 81 guess / fell most Of the way"
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