The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-05-07
How the chinese Right Fire.
From the chicago Times-Herald.

From the Chicago Times-I1erald
The Chicago fire department and chief
Swenie are all well enough in their way,
but. compared with some fire-hghting or
CARNATIONS in the. world, they are sadly
lacking in many of the qualities that add
picturesque details to good, warm blaze,
They go in too much for the bold business
of putting QUA fire and are continually
guilty of sacrificing beautiful tableauX TO
a deplorable desire to get the best of the
flames
Hong Kong with its cosmopolitan popu-
lation and its strange commingling of
palatial stone structures and flimsy, top
heavy frame buildings, is peculiarly sus-
cepuble to great conflagrations. And In
addition there are dangers chat confront
firemen there which are unknown else
where. Most of the old buildings in the
native quarter are of cheap wood, erected
by Chinese with their own peculiar ideas
of construction. Nearly all of them are
three st6ries high and supported on The
frame work over every outside door and
window are solid Blocks of granite. When
attacked by fire, more often than not from
an overturned opium lamp the dry wood
craollles like finder, and the granite
blocks fail one after the other with a
laundering crash into the street, a con.
tinual menace to the lives of firemen.
There are five separate modern fire de-
ed, in Hong Kong, the police auxiliary
brigade and the English German, French
and Russian brigades. All of these stand
very high in equipment and service. At
all fires the chief of the police auxiliary
has fun control. The various national
brigades are composed of volunteers,
young men who give up their time and
money for the general good. Members are
kept strictly within lines of nationality
and the competition is very keen. Valu-
able silver cups and other trophies are
often donated by residents of the city to
be won by the brigade that arrives first
three times in succession, at fires, and the
contests that follow are always produc-
tive of the greatest good fellowship
But outside all these are the "fre tongs'
of the Chinese population-gTeat. lumber
ing, glittering armies of silk and tom
toms that add the element of comic opera
to every Hong Kong fire. There are five
of these tongs, with a total membership
numbering nearly 1900, Each is distin-
guished from the others by the uniform of
its members, wonderful ful-length silk
en- dress having embroidered on It in va
r1ous colors the one word "Yld"-ire-
crowned with an enormous rush hat with
the name Of the particular tong on 1t in big
white characters.
AS soon as the city bells ring out the
alarm these Chinese ''firemen' tumble out
of stores and dwellings like ants, ard
dragging on their uniformly as they go
lope down the hills and winding streets
to their various engine houses. These
places are simply sheds. and the fire-fght-
ing paraphernalia they contain must he
seen to be properly appreciated. 1t con
sists of two long bamboo ladders, few
hundred feet of rubber hose, several thou
sand ancient pixies with iron and tin heads,
dozen great waterproof lanterns and an
ae rOf~fV1 Ont ne oh hVtor IA
tains five divisions-the ladder men, the
hose men, lantern bearers, gong men and
"pikerS" The ladder men are supposed
to Chamber up to third stories of hous
and rescue perishing inmates, though no.
body has ever yet seen them attempt any,
thing so foolhardy; the hose men carry
the hose 10 the fire on their shou, ders like
a huge snake. and the thousands of pix
ers' hold their weapons in both hands and
march on to the scene of the blaze in an
unwieldy mob. What these men with
pixies are for I was never able to ascer-
tain. The Chinese never use the weapons
for anything except TO stand In front of a
burning building holding them shoulder
arms fashion and occasionally pointing
them to the fire. The duty of the gong man
is to keep up, without ceasing, the n ost
hdeous din their instruments are cspsble
of producing. As for the lantern bearers,
they might better be called lantern max
ers for most of their time between fires
is taken up in manufacturing new covsrs
to replace those smashed at fires by the
police and foreign brigade.
The chief of one of these picturesque
mobs is generally a wel-to-do Chinese
merchant, When he hears an larm of fire
he proceeds to make, his fire toilet, an
operation that takes several minutes.
Then, calling for his chair coolies, he Is
carried impressively to the scene Of the
fire. 1t generally happens that 1t is UNI
der control when he gets there. a condition
of affairs that he treats with sublime in
difference, and he finds few thousand
of the members of his brigade being
rollndly cursed for blocking the road by
the foreign devils who are working.
The chief descends from his chair is sa-
Iuted by his men with mixed shout, ana
then blows a whistle. The pkemen form
in lines on the sidewalk opposite the
burning house, the gongs begin their
fendish noise, lantern bearers fan all
over their precious burdens and hose men
rush frantically round for water only to
find that the white lremen are connected
with all the hydrants in sight.
The jabbering and "hi-yahs" increase to
a continuous yell. Then the red-mrbaned
Sikh policemen who keen order at Hong
Kong fires, and who have the eternal
Indian hatred OF the Chinese, begin to
make things interesting They mix IN
among them, club them with the butt
ends Of the cld-fashioned muskets they
carry and work like Trojans to keep the
place clear for the whites. Meantime the
blaze Is put out and reluctantly the Chi
nese brfgades gradually disappear.
Imagine four or five thousand OF these
"fremen." In addition 20 the great mohs
of Celestial civilians who always turn out
TO Took see" a fire, crowded into the mar
row ACKNOWLEDGMENT working Of The
engines. the yeHs and the incessant beat
ing of the gongs-and you have an idea
of the difficulties that confront the real
fire fighters of Hong Kong.
The British government which strictly
forbids the existence Of any secret Chi
nese society on the island recognizes the
powerful national craze for Organization
of some sort or other and prefers that Il
should run into the harmless fire brigade
than into anything moro dangerous Eng
iish officials and government detectives
are always on the watch for on attempt
70 form secret lodges-generally on at
tempt under cover to plot against the
Chinese Empire.
Each member Of a brigade pays 70
cents month, For this he IL visited by
native doctors when he IL sick, and when
ha dgae with a c,Ornnipte dferpgar6 for