The St. Louis Republic., 1904-12-04

Danger ever turks in the path o. fire.
man. Probably no other business followed
By man In the large cities has more peri
lous features. and IN no other avocation
does man take his life into his hands as
often as does the fighter of flames, who,
day after day. practically walks into the
jaws Of death each time he responds to an
alarm.
True, dozens of fires occur at which no
fireman sustains even a scratch, but many
DO come where dozens of the brave lad
dies" know not when they enter the burn
ing structure whether they will come out
alive or maybe crippled for life.
To the old FIRE fighter this phase Of the
business becomes one Of his least
thoughts. His main object is to get to
xhs blass, - quickly as possible and ex-
dnguish It In the least possible time with
The smallest degree Of damage.
Just like the horses that draw the trucks
and engines, It Is new to them when they
begin. ana they hesitate to leap into the
haWess, but after . while the novelty
wears on and It becomes a mere matter
of-fact occurrence, necessary to the safe
ty OF life and property of the people whose
servants-noble ones II Is true-they are
Whether At midnight or noon, the dan
gers are ever st hand Walls will tumble
IN whils the sun shines Just the same as
ehsv Win under the glare Of the moon or
ne rays Of the flames from the burning
building. This. perhaps. is the greatest
ords no doubt win show that more Are
men have lost their lives under falling
walls than In any other way
-. Wnen % ne gong rinEs IN the engine-house
maa leaps from the bad into his clothes
without chance to rub his eyes, runs to
the poIe. ohdes down and takes his posi-
wsson.- which ever may Be hs place. he
knows not when he 10 coming back to the
house g Il At all Many Of the brave boys
their lives IN following their e duty stsen ana ND
mono know It better than their Fellows
who are left to tell the story.
THE MIDNIGHT ALARM.
With the horses salloping at the great
est Reed the heavy hose wagons, engines
and trucks will permit. the bell Changing
and the vheels gathering. the fireman. IL
y IT, = aiEht blaze completes his tot
On costs and hats after the harness is
snapped onto the horses.
Danger from being burned to death, suf-
focated or crushed under falling wall Is
hardly more imminent than the trip to
the flre In big city. Dozens of vehicles
are met and passed in the streets These
are not S Or 50 50 much danger. It's the street
I'd rather night fire three hours than
q street car three seconds" said an old
hfsman. the other day.
several hves have been lost in collisions
between nre apparatus and street cars in
St Louis In the last two years.
With these dangers always staring him
man is looked upon as brave man. When
you Sc him sitting in the shade Of the
engane-house on summer afternoon, or
around the stove In the winter. you nav
think his lie an easy one. but try II
mind.
The fireman is always on duty. Of course
he has time on TO eat and his hours for
sleep are regular, though his slumber Is
often interrupted. But he never knows
when the alarm is coming that may take
work. without chance 10 eat or sleep for
hours at aSstretSh.
Heroic acls are q daily occurrence with
the boys" They become so frequent that
I'VE don't think snything about these
a few days ago to recall some Of the acts
of heroism performed by men OF the de-
partment "Its a part of the daily lie.
Even you lynx-eyed reporters do not see
some of the heroic acts committed at
fires by the boys on the inside. We're too
busy. when the flames are raging to think
about them and it's TOO late to tell you
aftsrward.
.Why. rye seen men dash through
sheets Of fame to get TO some portion Of
a burning house where they may better
fight the fire. when they didn'. know
whether the floor beyond them would bear
their weight
Carrying women and children. and even
men down ladders has become common
thing with firemen, and is such part of
his everyday life that he gets to regard it
assonly little diversion from the every
Giy battle against the flames. and jokes
about 1t after.,ths blaze strikes out, and
he's back to Abe house.
SOME BIG FIRES
In the big fire on the Levee in lsis. when
flames ate up $io.0oecoo worth of property,
came one Of the first losses of life in the
ranks Of the firemen of ST. Louis That
fire is one Of the historic events Of st
Louis. and an account of # with photo
graphs Is preserved by the Missouri His
tcs1cai Society.
ne 6amss started in the steamer White
y