Evening star., 1900-07-14

In Paris they have the sapeurs-pompiers
out for all kinds of troubles. accidents.
floods. riots and all kinds of disasters be-
sides fire
When the American-it must be con-
fessed. at rare intervals-sees the light
equipment of the sapeurs smpers of Paris
trotting decorousiy on It's way to a fire.
hears he measured warning OF the dinner
bell hey ring. and 6 andS aside to let the
CHEEKY Little procession pass, he cannot but
compare it unfavorably with the terrific
bluff Of his home service. Here comes the
-four departures of a complete service
the two-horse drag. with thirteen men. a
| hand pump and a quantity of hose: grea.
Noun ed ladder. drawn by four horses and
accompanied by four men. steam fire en-
gine. drawn by two horses and served by
three men. and a second hose carriage, ac-
campanied by s'X men.
These d. partureS come all erna tely from
the two stations nearest to The seat of the
fire, SO as to leave in each certain amount
of material and men for any subsequent
emergency.
Fire-FightinE Apparatus.
All the material seems light, amateurish
and experimental to Americans habituated
10 the immense power of the home machin-
cry. The first arrivals, with their hose
hand pumps, cellar apparatus, air COM
pressors, oxygen reservoirs, electric lamps,
their picks and axes, get down to work
with great celebrity, however; and it must
be admitted that, given the solid construc-
tlon of Paris houses, they regularly accom-
piish a great deal more than the quickly
appreciative American had given them
cIedt for; so that his admiration grows
With what he sees. Indeed it often hap
pens tina; a threatening fire is mastered by
this first departure" by the time that the
fire engine-rather slow mover-gets into
POSITION That this is possible is due to the
admirable device of the prise d eau by
which, in 5000 places scat cred over Paris,
the heavy-pressure water mains may be
lVNnfyI siYflyN hfSa Tow,
that matter | have seen many a promising
fire extinguished by the simple means of
one of the "devldo-rs, composed of two big
wheels and a Roll OF hose, KEEP permanently
at the ''petiss poStes,' not far from several
surrounding "prises d'eau." A pressure of
water sufficient to deal with fifJh-tioor fires
at least is Obtained without the interven-
ton even of the hand pump.
W hen the paSSereIle brluge from the eX-
hibition grounds to the G.oDe-CeleSte te broke
down under its own weight on an unhappy
Sunday of last spr.ng 1t was the sapeurs-
pompIers who Were called Immediately to
the spot to organize and accomplish the
reScueS.
In Every Emergency.
The concierge, or janitor, of house in
the Rue Lafayette, relying on the rule that
forbldS anybody to use an apartment house
elevator for the purpose of descent, went to
clean the first floor of the elevator cage
while the elevator Itself was. as he sup
posed stationary on a higher floor. While
polishing the ironwork and brasswork he
managed to lock himself in. Then, almost
Immediately, TO his horror, he heard the
machinery start, and saw the heavy eie-
vatOr slowly coming down to crush him. A
lazy te ant was haS ing ride down, agaia ST
the rules. The unfortunate janitor neither
could release himself ror make his screams
heard by the descending tenant He was
crushed horribly and died a few minutes
later.
The painfully curious part of the tale con-
sists in this: / have friends living In that
house, who heard the fracas that imme-
diately followed down stairs in the hall
way. fastening down there shortly after
they discovered, to their horror, that the
crowd had permitted the crushed man to
lie there till the sapeurs-pompiers could be
summoned. The devoted fellows arrived al
most Immediately, from around the corner
II Is true. They had the victim ont