Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-23
HOW F|RENEn SLEEP
Few Know of The Interior of
an Engine @use.
ALARM ATIR:30 A. M.
DESCRIPTION on AIM AS THEY
GO OUT OF GALL.
Gong Is IrresisHblei to Their Ears
Some Have Gone TO Fires While
Still Asleep.

steep 10IeI
esting features In the careers Of these rne1
who constantly teopardtze their lives fol
the property Of the people. Yet few people
know anything about the fire lad6Nes when
they are not engaged In the active work
Of their profession, and. their lives behind
the doors Of the engine houses are sealed
books.
An interesting tour OF the places where
men, horses and trucks,are quartered was
recently made by a Star reporter under
the guidance Of one OF the department
oldest fire fighters, and to lend reality to
the experience an entire night was spent
among them. During the day there is less
excitement than whenr the silent hours
after midnight are passing. for it is then
that at any moment may be Witnessed men
in the highest state of action performing
feats that were impossible but for the per-
feet training Of the corps springing out
Of bed at the clang of the alarm. jumping
down the pole that lands them in the en-
CINE room beside their machines.
More Like Automatons.
They are more like a,itomatons than men
and the first part Of the work Of answering
an alarm is nearly as perilous as the actual
work when the fire is reached.
and carts are kept and where the big horses
ing to fires, Is the sleeping room Of the
men who are sucn a. mighty part OF the
city's machinery. Rows Of cots are ar
ranged on either side Of the large room,
in the floor, through which passes a slen-
der rod This rod Is the means OF descent
used by the men when answering call
and but for its invention much longer time
would be necessary to man the trucks
Before 1t came into use an ordinary stair
way was used. but this mode OF descent
was snail-like In comparison with the pres
ent method. Three seconds after the tap
of an. alarm many OF the men have been
that length of time sprung from their
beds in sound sleep, dressed and slid down
the pole to the engine T66m.
1t grows on them and becomes second
nature A great many persons imagine
that the firemen on duty are compelled to
be awake at all timesIbuS such IL not the
case. Neither do they sleep In their
clothes: that is, not all Of them. At the
foot Of each bed there isna heavy pair OF
boots into which are tucked trousers. The
two garments are laid SO that one spring
and jerk will Land the man in them.
The fireman sleeps in hb Undertaking
and his flannel shirt, and Esulen answering
an alarm has nothing to- do but jump into
his boots and snatcho htso helmet as he
passes to the sliding pole hi the middle OF
the room. In one ssconH after he has
wrapped his legs around that pole and
caught 1t with his hands he is on the floor
below, and has but toomake one spring to
the running board OF the trsfek as the doors
swing open and the4excitsdIhorses drag the
heavy machine through anfdnto the street.
Tt Is surely the embellishments that. any of
the army of employees eof thu city is known
to. do. -l~--,a A lr15r1a q e '-.;'-
An Alarm at $50 AM.
During the time that was spent by the
reporter in one of the fire houses there was
an alarm at 2:3O o'clock in the morning.
All was as quiet as the grave save for the
stamping Of some Of the restless horses.
On the engine room floor were the night
watch. some of them engaged in game
Of cards. the others sitting around the room
seemingly doing. Suddenly, out OF the
Stiffness came the clang of the gong:
Dong, dong, dong. dong-dong, dong,
dong!"
Forty-three had sounded, and before the
echo had fully reverberafed through the
building a dozen men had sprung from
their beds, jumped into their boots and
were coming down the pole like string OF
monkeys. At the same time the stalls few
open and the horses ran to their places.
straps were snapped into rings. and the
driver was on his seat: the refns In his
hands.
Almost instantly the alarm was repeated.
the doors swung open, men sprang from
everywhere to their stations, and IN Just
six seconds after the first tap OF the Dell
the engine swung into the street and was
full tilt for the box from which the alarm
had been sent in.
Some of the men were half asleep as they
chung to the rail of the truck, but the
frosty night air soon awakened them. and
they were as alert as ever In their lives.
Just here Is where. some of the most re-
markable experiences of the ffreman's life
takes place, for 1t is no secret that many a
man has gone to fire sound asleep. 1t Is
the second nature acquired after long ex-
perience. %
Gong is Irresistible.
Although a fireman will sleep in peace
through any sort of noise but that of the
gong, when the first tap Of the bell comes
to his ears he bounds out of bed as If he
were attached to the bell by spring. Neither
the tramping of the horses nor the many
other sounds that make up the whole Of a
city's roar disturb him in the least, but
there Is something about the alarm gong
that acts upon his nerves and cannot be ex-
planned save on the ground of second ma
ture.
An instance of this is told at one of the
houses which responded to an alarm st
o'clock In the morning not many days ago.
One of the men sprang from his bed and
into his clothes: then jumped for the rod
and slid down to his place, In few sec
onds being on his way ito the fire. The
blaze was a trifling one, and the men soon
returned to their house. Then it was dis
covered that the man about whom the
story Is told had lost d coat containing
quite sum Of money. t.,4
During the search that was begun at once
1t was disclosed that his FIRST clear memory
dated from the moment when NE had jumped
from the truck to turn on the hydFant. Be-
tween that moment and back to the sound
of the alarm was a complete blank to him.
He did not recall having heard The gong.
nor anything that had ffanspired in the in
terval while going to the fire. Clearly he
had been sound asleep, And II was thought
that his coat and money Had been stolen
from the bed where he Had kept it while he
Eas away at the fire. Die -, .
Found Stuffed id aBucket.
1t was a serious loss i It's, man, and his
comrades all Joined hsm Iai thorough
search of the premisesd Finally came the
reward. for the missiagE coat, with the
money in the pocket. was fodhd stuffed into
one of the canvas buckets HAT hang to the
side Of the truck. The man. himself had evil
IDENTIFY put dt there on hisway to the fire,
and while sound asleep He had jumped
from bed. donned his trousers and boots,
snatched up his coat containing the money,
and carried 1t with him down the pole, and
Sv,NN fka1 Rr~r fall ami